Maria Duenas

the-seamstress

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Kate-Atkinson

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

The Seamstress

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

María Dueñas is a true storyteller.  Read this book and prepare to be transported

María Dueñas's ambitious debut belongs to that increasingly rare genre: the historical epic...a richly satisfying novel

A magnificent novel that flawlessly brings together history and intrigue

A wonderful novel with intrigue, love, mystery and tender, audacious and clean-cut characters

A literary cocktail that mixes adventure, espionage, glamour, aristocracy and passion

How can a novel be both cruel and tender, dark and luminous all at the same time, and keep the reader glued to its pages with a complex, captivating narrative? María Dueñas's novel manages to make this possible with a tale that is destined to become a literary classic

Spain, 1936 and the brink of civil war. 
 
Young, poor Sira Quiroga is swept up in a whirlwind romance with her wily love Ramiro. Fleeing Madrid together for Morocco, her love blinds her to his real failings. Soon abandoned, left penniless and in debt to the authorities, she has to rely on the one skill she still possesses: sewing. 
 
Taken under the wing of the bullish but caring housekeeper Candelaria, Sira is able to sew for the glamorous foreign English and German women in Tetouan. Privy to their unbridled gossip, Sira becomes invaluable to the British secret service, a position that is filled with untold risk. 
 
A tale of danger, espionage, love and war, The Seamstress is a WWII tale like no other.

María Dueñas's million copy best-selling tale of adventure, tragedy, love and war, The Seamstress, a Richard and Judy 2012 book club pick. 
 
Spain, 1936 and the brink of civil war. 
 
Aged twelve, Sira Quiroga was apprenticed to a Madrid dressmaker. As she masters the seamstress's art, her life seems to be clearly mapped out - until she falls passionately in love and flees with her seductive lover. 
 
But in Morocco she is betrayed and left penniless. As civil war engulfs Spain, Sira finds she cannot return and so turns to her one true skill - and sews beautiful clothes for the expat elite and their German friends. 
 
With Europe rumbling towards war, Sira is lured back to Franco's Nazis-friendly Spain. She is drawn into the shadowy world of espionage, rife with love, intrigue and betrayal. 
And where the greatest danger lies. . . 
 
'María Dueñas is a true storyteller. Read this book and prepare to be transported' Kate Morton, author of The House at Riverton 
 
'A wonderful novel with intrigue, love, mystery and tender, audacious and clean-cut characters' Mario Vargas Llosa 
 
'A magnificent novel that flawlessly brings together history and intrigue' Juan Gómez-Jurado, author of The Moses Expedition 
 
María Dueñas holds a PhD in English Philology and is currently a professor at the University of Murcia. She has also taught at American universities, is the author of several academic articles, and has participated in various educational, cultural and editorial projects. She is currently writing her second novel.

María Dueñas holds a PhD in English Philology and is currently a professor at the University of Murcia. She has also taught at American universities, is the author of several academic articles, and has participated in various educational, cultural and editorial projects. She is currently writing her second novel.

The Seamstress

Format:

Buy the book from:

María Dueñas is a true storyteller. Read this book and prepare to be transported

María Dueñas's ambitious debut belongs to that increasingly rare genre: the historical epic...a richly satisfying novel

A magnificent novel that flawlessly brings together history and intrigue

A wonderful novel with intrigue, love, mystery and tender, audacious and clean-cut characters

A literary cocktail that mixes adventure, espionage, glamour, aristocracy and passion

How can a novel be both cruel and tender, dark and luminous all at the same time, and keep the reader glued to its pages with a complex, captivating narrative? María Dueñas's novel manages to make this possible with a tale that is destined to become a literary classic

About Maria Duenas

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter