8

To deconstruct a novel is to "unravel" its "threads" -- by loosening something away from the tightly woven text, it will shed light on understanding the text in a different way.

If I want to think literally about threads -- as in fabric and thus clothes -- I can't help but think of the dresses and outfits that are described in Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied. Something seemingly insignificant gives insight into the female characters in this period drama. Bev, the protagonist Evie's vivacious mother, purposefully restricts Evie from wearing flattering or attention-getting clothes in an attempt to distract Evie from realizing she's actually very pretty. Bev herself wears these womanly clothes and has been known to be quite a flirt if not suspected (and convicted) of more. Mrs. Grayson and Bev walk in on Evie trying desperately to appear like a woman in one of Bev's dresses. When Mrs. Grayson gives Evie the means to dress herself more like a young lady, we see a more confident Evie that is not so fearful of her mother (and Bev is even in a more relaxed state when they first stay in Florida).

During the trial, it is made important that the Bev dresses more conservatively. Even more, Evie's perjured admission to wearing one of her mother's dresses in order to meet Peter is essential to the story as it was the clothing that was noticed by Walter the witness.

The more I think about it, I think that examining the significance of the clothes in Bludell's What I Saw and How I Lied would shed a new light onto Blundell's text.