What symbolizes a woman's hopes and dreams more than her wedding dress--and who better to tell tales from the heartland's center of bridal finery than Jeffrey Zaslow? Seeking a format to express his love for his own three young adult daughters, Zaslow (The Girls from Ames) took his wife's advice: recalling her dad's extra efforts to deliver her wedding dress, she suggested Zaslow look to this defining moment in a woman's life as his focus. Fortuitously, he discovered Becker's Bridal just north of his Detroit home--the go-to wedding dress boutique for brides throughout the upper Midwest.
With his keen eye for human interest stories and his sensitivity (an advice columnist for 14 years, Zaslow was the original replacement for Ann Landers, and now writes a Wall Street Journal column on life transitions), Zaslow profiles many of the women who have come, shopped and eventually posed in their dream dresses in the "Magic Room," with its mirrored walls and soft lighting. He interviews brides whose mothers shopped there and follows young women whose paths to the altar are sometimes bumpy; along the way, he recounts the 76-year history of the Becker family business, which has survived regional economic downturns, family challenges and changes in wedding traditions.
The Magic Room symbolizes dreams come true, and reflects Zaslow's affection and optimism for family love and commitment. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, bookseller