The Seamstress of Sardinia

A Novel

By: Bianca Pitzorno

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2022 Bianca Pitzorno (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

I very, very good audiobook!

A very compelling story of the story of a young girl growing into womanhood in the poor parts of Italy. The story captured not only my heart, but also my mind.

True to life.

Pulls you into the life of the lower working class and all of its pressures and threats.

Good story and narrative

The Seamstress of Sardinia is a nice light read with historical content of Italian working women in the early to mid 20th century. I wouldn't call it a must-read but I enjoyed it and learned a bit.

Beautiful story

Challenges and solutions that were not only surprising, but woven well written and read. Excellent book!

Very good!

I enjoyed this book very much. You get very attached to the main characters. The reader is excellent.

The scandals.

I enjoyed this book. I could get a bit annoyed at the narration from time to time, but overall, it is a decent book.

an easy listen, perfect for a sewist

This was an enjoyable listen for me while working on a sewing project. The narrator had a beautiful Italian accent that was a pleasure to listen to and I wished she had used it more in the dialogue. The characters were moderately interesting but I would've liked more local description other than the politics of the time. Even so, as a quilter it was fun to listen to the sewing details in the story while I worked. I recommended it to my elderly mother who doesn't care for adult content in her audiobooks.

Thank goodness for the Epilogue!

This was a tough book for me to enjoy, as I found the protagonist to be an irritatingly clueless character who could barely get out of her own way. While her depicted reactions to the grinding ugliness, hatred, abuse and hopelessness of the caste/class systems of her place & times might have been understandable, being privy to the constant second guessing and self-effacing mind games she played with herself was just tiresome.

I found the many chapters of The Seamstress of Sardinia only somewhat redeemed by the epilogue.

I can’t imagine ever caring to reread or to recommend this book.

Not bad, not worth the credit though

Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. It was simply alright, but it’s not good enough to recommend.

I Really Enjoyed This Book

It was just the kind of book that has all the good characters and right number of hateful antagonists to make you want to listen every minute you can...at least that's how I feel about it. The descriptions of the characters, the events happening to the characters, the poverty and the rich made me feel like I was right there experiencing the events. This book was not the usual scenario of boy meets girl, so it was even more enjoyable.