THE SEAMSTRESS

Sira Quiroga leave Madrid for love only to be left pregnant and penniless by her lover. She falls back on sewing and soon becomes aware of the gossip of women about their lovers and husbands, a position very valuable to the British secret service.
María Dueñas''s million copy best-selling tale of adventure, tragedy, love and war, The Seamstress.
Spain, on the brink of civil war, 1936. In love for the first time, Sira Quiroga leaves Madrid, along with everything she knows and cares about, to run away to Tangiers, Morocco with her lover Ramiro. She entrusts him with all her inheritance only to be left by him - pregnant, penniless and in trouble with the authorities. At her lowest ebb Sira falls back on the one skill she possesses: sewing. Moving to Tetouan, Sira survives by sewing beautiful clothes for the English mistress of one of the most powerful men in Morocco and for her German friends. As the women unguardedly gossip about their husbands and lovers, Sira is placed in a position very valuable to the British secret service, and she is soon forced to move to Madrid where great danger lies. A grand and epic story that tells the story of Spain''s civil war, Madrid in the Second World War and reveals a world of war, glamour, espionage and passion. ''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.