While The Last Silk Dress primarily examines the effects of the Civil War on the inhabitants of Richmond, Virginia, most specifically on Susan Chilmark and her family, like Rinaldi's But in the Fall I'm Leaving, it also centers on a mystery. Throughout the novel, Susan's mother—a half-crazed woman who falls into screaming rages—torments her only daughter by calling her a "Yankee brat." Susan, a loyal Confederate daughter, passes the insult off as madness and selflessly gives to the cause. She takes her best white silk dress that her father bought in New York and cuts it up so that it can be used for a Confederate flag. Susan nurses sick soldiers, and she collects silk dresses from Richmond women so that a Confederate balloon can be made.
Yet, after Susan falls in love with a.....
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