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The Seamstress
The Seamstress | Maria Duenas
Mara Dueas'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. . . 'Mara Dueas 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 Gmez-Jurado, author of The Moses Expedition Mara Dueas 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.
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Aims42
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#readingbracket2023 #2023readingbracket I cannot believe how close we are to making our top 2023 picks 🤯😱 Last month (Oct) I couldn‘t decide between “The Last Devil to Die” by Richard Osman or “The Lady from Burma” by Allison Montclair, but I ultimately decided on Osman‘s book. It‘s the last one (for a little while) so it only seemed fitting. This month (Nov) it had to go to the tagged book, it was so much fun getting swept away in Sira‘s story

Karisimo This is one of my all time favs! Might need to re-read someday! 12mo
Aims42 @Karisimo it‘s totally a book to re-read 🥰 There‘s a TV series too that was okay (book is of course better lol) 12mo
40 likes2 comments
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Aims42
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Pickpick

This was an unintended PangoBooks find🤪 I was buying a book from a seller and saw this. I read the summary and gasped - it checks alllll my boxes:
✅ Historical fiction {and bonus points for it being from a region and a time period I‘m not familiar with (Spanish Civil War, Madrid & Morocco during the late 1930s and 1940s)}
✅ Strong female characters
✅ A chunkster!!
I ordered the sequel when I still had 200 pages to go, I knew I wanted more!

Aims42 Themes: The Spanish Civil War, 1930-1940s Morocco, Erik Larson meets Adriana Trigiani (facts meets beautiful story telling) 12mo
jlhammar I‘ve had this waiting on my shelves for years. Glad to hear you enjoyed! 12mo
Aims42 @jlhammar I went in trying to manage my expectations but it blew them out of the water. Starting the sequel tonight 🤩 12mo
See All 6 Comments
Zoes_Human No idea how it compares to the book, but there is a Spanish series of this that is GORGEOUS. The clothes, the buildings, the cars, the everything. The show is under the original Spanish name of El tiempo entre costuras. I watched it on Netflix, but it‘s been years, so I‘m not sure if it‘s still there 12mo
Aims42 @Zoes_Human I will look for it, I would LOVE to see it 😍 Thank you!! 12mo
Zoes_Human @Aims42 You‘re most welcome! 12mo
43 likes6 comments
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Karisimo
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“A typewriter shattered my destiny”

#firstlinefriday from one of my all-time favs!

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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Finding the next book to read after finishing a very good one is such a struggle! I‘ve had this one my shelf for so many years and it‘s such a lovely book - beautiful cover, gorgeous endpapers, beautiful part/chapters - it could be the sweeping saga I‘m longing to get lost in!

Sapphire I loved this book 3y
EvieBee I know exactly how you feel! I‘m up late doing the same. Trying to find something appealing to read. 3y
27 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Susanita
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1. Goodreads said the tagged book was the longest one I read last year. I actually listened to it (MANY hours), but the page count is 615.
2. If it‘s from the library, chunkster reading requires special planning. Especially if it‘s popular with a lot of holds.

#two4tuesday

TheSpineView Thanks for playing and happy Tuesday! 😀 3y
26 likes1 comment
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violabrain
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Pickpick

I loved it! And a facet of World War II I knew nothing about.

Zoes_Human I haven‘t read this, but the TV series was wonderful! 3y
violabrain @Zoes_Human Oh wow, I didn‘t know there was a TV series! I‘ll have to try to find it online… 3y
Zoes_Human @violabrain I *think* it was on Netflix. 3y
11 likes3 comments
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Susanita
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Pickpick

Recommended by Anne Bogel on her One Great Book podcast. As she said on her Goodreads review, the dialogue is a bit clunky, which may or may not be a function of the translation. It‘s also quite long and could have used some edits. BUT the story is very compelling and sent me down many google rabbit holes. It makes me want to go back to Spain! The main character is very memorable, and so are the side characters. More in comments.

Susanita I have to say that the narrator grated on me. I didn‘t especially like her voice, and there were some issues with the reading. A valiant effort for 22 hours, but there were pauses in odd places, and some words were flat out mispronounced. Including some Spanish place names! 4y
Susanita I also thought that some of the spy stuff, while quite interesting, strained credulity a little too far. 4y
AlaMich I started reading this in Spanish (not my first language) and got 25% in. I was enjoying it but I think life got in the way and I didn‘t have the bandwidth to wrestle with the Spanish anymore. But just yesterday I was listening to a Book Riot podcast and they recommended it, so now I‘m thinking I should go back to it. (edited) 4y
Susanita @AlaMich Yes! Much of my rabbit hole googling was about Morocco, so I‘m glad they chose this as one of the recommendations. I hope you can get back to it. I‘d be interested to read it in Spanish, though it would probably take months. 4y
47 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Susanita
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We had a very busy week at work, and this morning we did some mandatory training, so the boss gave us the afternoon free! When I got in my car, the outside temperature was 86 degrees! Good day for a walk and an audiobook to help cure #springfever. I have library books backed up like the Evergreen barge, so I‘m definitely going to try for #20in4 and just read as much as I can. Tagged audiobook is 22 hours long so we‘ll see...
#windsofMarch

Andrew65 Good luck 😊👍 4y
Crazeedi I love your analogy 😅😅 4y
Eggs How nice to have some extra free time 📚❤️📚 4y
37 likes3 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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#weekendreads with @rachelsbrittain

1. Severance by Ling Ma and Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram Kendi

2. The Time In Between by Maria Duenas. The cover is a painting by one of my favorite artists Jack Vettriano

3. Yes. No shame yes.

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Tove_Reads
The Seamstress | Maria Duenas
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Pickpick

Turmoil in Europe. Sira leaves with her new bf to Morocco. He leaves her high and dry. The only thing she knows is how to sew. This is how she gets to know all the rich and famous women who need new dresses. A secret and dangerous mission takes her back to Madrid, and she gets involved in the war as a spy. It is a nice story and the setting is interesting, but the book was too long, 600 pages. #Spain #readingtheworld

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marss
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“One of the effects of being crazily, obsessively in love is that it dulls your senses, your capacity for perception, till you no longer notice what is happening around you. It causes you to focus your attention so much on a single person that it isolates you from the rest of the universe, imprisons you inside a shell, and keeps you at a distance from other realities, even those right in front of you. “

2 likes1 stack add
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EmilieGR
Pickpick

Good characters

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Sapphire
Pickpick

This was my selection to take on our cruise last week and it was not a mistake. Beautifully written and translated, the characters grab hold and take you in an adventure. Brings a bit of a new slant to both WWII and spy literature. Author is a university professor and it shows in the quality of writing. A great new discovery. Also increased my desire to visit Spain.

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Sha0102
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Pickpick

I swept away by this marvellously well told story. I travelled with the characters. "The inspiring international bestseller of a seemingly ordinary woman who uses her talent and courage to transform herself first into a prestigious couturier and then into an undercover agent for the Allies during World War II." Entertaining level: ????? #2015Sha

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wen4blu
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Midyear and I'm ahead of schedule, woot!!

rubyslippersreads 🎉📚🎉📚🎉🎉🎉 7y
DivineDiana Fantastic! 7y
Suet624 Nice!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 7y
58 likes3 comments
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wen4blu
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Today's view is almost too distracting to read (almost).

MrBook Aye, that's a lovely view indeed. Where is it 7y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders I've had this on the shelf for so long! 7y
67 likes1 stack add2 comments
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LadyPotterHead
The Seamstress | Maria Duenas
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Ribbon bookmark to match the Vintage bookzleeve...both now available in the shop along with a couple other new things👍🏼😃 #bookmark #booksleeve #bookzleeve #ribbonbookmark #sewing #singer #bookprotector #reading #reader #booklover #gift #etsyshopowner #Etsy

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Linesthatblur
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Pickpick

Loved diving into this sweeping historical fiction about strong women. A beautiful page turner.

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LadyPotterHead
The Seamstress | Maria Duenas
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New bookzleeve coming to the shop, probably tomorrow, if you love vintage style things then this is the one for you 👍🏼 find it in my Etsy...link in the bio
#etsyshopowner #Etsy #bookprotector #booksleeve #booklovers #reader #reading #gift #bookzleeve #booklover #sewing #vintage #new #protect your books

50 likes1 stack add
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mhillis
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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The main character in this novel is a dressmaker and a spy #dressesoncovers #readjanuary #translatedbooks

MeganAnn A dressmaker and spy?! Yes please!! Added this to my TBR...❤️ 8y
mhillis @MeganAnn Hope you enjoy it!! 8y
48 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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annebogel
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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I always like to see an underrated book I enjoyed out in the wild. #bookstorebrowsing

19 likes5 stack adds
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karenna
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Pickpick

This is good choice if you want escapist historical fiction set during the Spanish Civil War and the early years of World War II. I enjoyed the likable characters and the fairly unpredictable plot.

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analdayreading
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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"Witty and sensual, indifferent to the political asperity of the times, as though he were not quite of this world." Beware anyone who is indifferent to politics in this age and happiness that is found by characters by page 28.

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mhillis
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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DebinHawaii Pretty! 📘💙 8y
mhillis @DebinHawaii @CherylDeFranceschi Loving all the blue books today! 8y
42 likes3 comments
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mhillis
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Hazel0303
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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My #recommendsday pick is The Time in Between. This was the first selection in my best friend book club. We walked the aisles of B&N and noticed the beautiful cover. A few pages in and we were hooked. A wonderful story with WWII as the backdrop and a strong female character.

22 likes2 stack adds
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RealLifeReading
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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The kids are in bed, the dishes are done, the trash has been taken out and it is time to get in bed and READ! What is your current bedtime read?

CherylDeFranceschi Doing the suspenseful Disappearance at Devil's Rock. Maybe not the coziest bedtime story... 8y
Gpapp Susan Jacoby's "Strange Gods: A Secular History of Religious Conversion." Very interesting. 8y
BookishFeminist I am neither righteous or sleeping right now, but this what's on my lap: 8y
See All 28 Comments
Simona @RealLifeReading Currently and I like it, a lot. 8y
[DELETED] 3216391035 @RealLifeReading I'm reading the same thing you are! 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled @irre Love that book! Im reading The Walls Around Us 8y
RealLifeReading @CherylDeFranceschi woah! I try not to read stuff that's too suspenseful otherwise I won't sleep! 8y
RealLifeReading @Gpapp that sounds like heavy bedtime reading! 8y
RealLifeReading @BookishFeminist I hadn't heard of that book before. Sounds intense! 8y
RealLifeReading @Simona keep meaning to read Olive Kitteridge! 8y
RealLifeReading @irre such a good book! 8y
RealLifeReading @Caryl I've not quite figured out if I want to read The Nest. At least not now! 8y
britt_brooke Awesome! @RealLifeReading Home is Burning is a decent memoir so far. A Man Called Ove is fantastic! @JaimitaPR 8y
RunsWithScissors I'm reading, and loving, A Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost. Even if I'm cuddled up in my covers, I can pretend I'm embarking on an international trek. 8y
Whitneyrwaller My favorite time of day! I just started 8y
RealLifeReading @RunsWithScissors that sounds like a good read! 8y
RealLifeReading @Whitneyrwaller I think I started reading that some years ago but never finished it! I'll have to try it again one day 8y
Homechick The Mists of Avalon is by far my #1 all-time favorite book I've read. I haven't read it in years...may have to dust off that one for another re-read! 8y
61 likes6 stack adds28 comments
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amgw
The Time in Between | Mar'a Due-as
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Pickpick

Loved this book! A story of a young Spanish woman in the era leading up to WWII. This perspective was new to me and the author puts you right there in the thick of it.