The Seamstress of Sardinia: A Novel

by Bianca Pitzorno

Overview

A bestselling Italian writer makes her American debut with this delightful dramedy of manners, family, romance, and fashion that is set on the island of Sardinia at the end of the nineteenth century—a dazzling and original literary blend of Jane Austen and Adriana Trigiani.

In 1900 Sardinia, a young woman’s remarkable talent with a needle earns her a position as a seamstress with a wealthy family. Inside this privileged world far different from her own humble beginnings, the skilled sewer quietly takes measurements, sketches designs, mends hems—and in the silence, hears whispered secrets and stories of all those around her.

Through the watchful young seamstress’s eyes, this small Italian city and its residents emerge in all their vitality, vanity, and fragility—flawed yet congenial people who are not quite what they pretend to be. There is the Marchesa Esther, who rides horses and studies mechanics and ancient Greek; Miss Lily Rose, a spirited American journalist who commissions a special corset—with pockets to hide more than just her flaws; the Provera sisters with their expensive Parisian fashions that belie their financial hardships; and Assuntina, the wild child. There are men, young, old, and in between; love affairs and broken hearts; and even a murder (or was it suicide?). And at the center, watching and waiting is the seamstress herself, an intelligent, ambitious girl with a tender heart and her own impossible dream.

An irresistible literary confection rich in atmosphere and period detail and packed with compelling characters. The Seamstress of Sardinia transports us to a long-ago world not so removed from our own—to a society rigidly divided by wealth and shaped by passion, hope, ambition, and love—the elemental forces that drive human lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063271708
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	506,139
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Bianca Pitzorno is well-known in Italy as a writer who usually focuses on female characters with complex personalities. While her books often have comic elements they are also often focused on issues of politics and social class. 

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/03/2022

Pitzorno’s sparkling English-language debut follows a poor Sardinian orphan girl’s coming-of-age as she becomes a seamstress, opera lover, and independent young woman. At five, in 1900, the unnamed narrator loses her parents in a cholera epidemic. She’s taken in by her grandmother, Nonna, a seamstress who teaches her to sew. By age seven, the girl is helping with the work, and well-to-do brides teach her to read and offer her novels, periodicals, and opera libretti in exchange for sewing their trousseaux and layettes. Nonna dies when the narrator is 16, and she manages to sidestep the pitfalls awaiting young women of the lower classes thanks to her sewing skills and literacy. Though finding work is sometimes a struggle, she survives the lean times with her dignity intact and catches operas from the nosebleed seats. Independent women—including a bicycle-riding American journalist and the beneficent, globe-trotting Marchesina Ester—provide moral and financial support. A tantalizing suitor appears, but the narrator’s problems are resolved more through courage, self-sacrifice, and honesty than through love or money. Minutely described period clothing and memorable characters conveyed via Maher’s seamless translation add to the charm. This sumptuous costume drama has a great deal of heart. Agent: David Forrer, InkWell Management. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"The Seamstress of Sardinia will sweep readers away to post-unification Italy with the twists and intrigue of Italian nobility." — Diana Giovinazzo, author of Antoinette's Sister

“Will be a hit with readers seeking a historical novel with a protagonist to root for: a strong young woman who hopes to succeed despite having few advantages.”  — Library Journal

"This sumptuous costume drama has a great deal of heart." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This feminist fairy tale is sure to be a book-club favorite and will appeal to fans of Laura Esquivel, Adriana Trigiani, and Elena Ferrante." — Booklist

From the Publisher

09/01/2022

Italian author Pitzorno makes her U.S. debut with this novel. At the end of the 19th century, only two members of a Sardinian family survive a cholera epidemic: Nonna and her young granddaughter. As the girl grows up, Nonna gives her lessons on being a sartina (a seamstress hired by the day), encompassing both sewing techniques and how to avoid trouble with the upper classes who employ them. A good student, her granddaughter (the novel's unnamed protagonist) employs Nonna's wise advice to navigate difficult decisions (how to save a friend; how to keep one's word; whether to sacrifice another to clear one's own name). The protagonist tells the story from her point of view in self-contained but connected episodic and suspenseful dramas, making readers into trusted confidants. Subtle emotions build connections but don't obscure the matter-of-fact ways in which characters respond to tough issues, as Nonna says that big emotions are a privilege of the wealthy. Small descriptive details build an understanding of Sardinia at the turn of the century, creating a fascinating backdrop and helpfully explaining the characters' actions and reactions. VERDICT Will be a hit with readers seeking a historical novel with a protagonist to root for: a strong young woman who hopes to succeed despite having few advantages.—Stacey Hayman

Library Journal