The Seamstress of Sardinia

A Novel

De: Bianca Pitzorno

Narrado por: Carlotta Brentan

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.

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.

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.

Enjoyed it

I enjoyed this book about what life was like for women in Italy in the late 1800's. Lots of insights. It felt like a true woman's perspective, and true Italian perspective as well. It's culturally just a little different from mine, but in all the essential ways, the young protagonist and I could be friends.

The hard life of the poor.

The description of different life styles of the past and the sad inequality suffered by the lower class. .