The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

Details: First published 1973; cover shown is the 1985 Flamingo (UK) paperback edition. Cover by Jean-Paul Tibbles. 160p.

Blurb: "If Liverpool, 1944, was grim for Rita and her two aunts Nellie and Margo, Rita knew that life in America was gay and rich - she'd seen it in all the films. So when her G.I. came to call, she was sure that love and escape had come at last.

But Nellie, who slaved for them all, kept the town in clothes, knew different: the boy would have to go.

And in the end, it wasn't really her fault..."