Release Date: May 2014
Pages: 336
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback
Book Description:
She Kept Her Secret for a Lifetime...
A shy girl with no family, Maria knows she's lucky to have landed in the sewing room of the royal household. Before World War I casts its shadow, she catches the eye of the Prince of Wales, a glamorous and intense gentleman. But her life takes a far darker turn, and soon all she has left is a fantastical story about her time at Buckingham Palace.
Decades later, Caroline Meadows discovers a beautiful quilt in her mother's attic. When she can't figure out the meaning of the message embroidered into its lining, she embarks on a quest to reveal its mystery, a puzzle that only seems to grow more important to her own heart. As Caroline pieces together the secret history of the quilt, she comes closer and closer to the truth about Maria.
Page-turning and heartbreaking, The Forgotten Seamstress weaves together past and present in an unforgettable journey.
Wanda's Thoughts: Maria and Caroline, separated by decades, but their stories are brought together because of a special quilt. This is a story filled with hurt, deception, and regrets as secrets are revealed. You will lose all sense of time, as you become a part of this story.
Much of the story takes place in a mental asylum, Helena Hall, a place where madness has no respect for modesty. A life was being wasted because of a few short hours of feeling special, of being young and foolish. Her life was being taken away because she had been naïve and vulnerable, but there was nothing she could do to right those past wrongs.
The author creates a lot of character depth and good descriptive writing. Liz Trenow certainly knows the human heart – a masterful storyteller, indeed! This is truly a heartwarming story that I’ll not soon forget. I highly recommend with a 5 star rating.
About the Author:
Liz Trenow's family have been silk weavers for nearly three hundred years, and she grew up in the house next to the mill in Suffolk, England, which still operates today, weaving for top-end fashion houses and royal commissions.
It was the recollections of Liz's father about how, during the Second World War, the mill worked night and day weaving parachute silk, that inspired her first novel, "The Last Telegram". It is the story of Lily Verner, a young woman who has to grow up very quickly and learn to manage the stresses and trials behind the Home Front in the Second World War.
The love story at the heart of the novel is also based on real life events and characters. In 1939, when war was imminent, Liz's family were so concerned about the plight of their many Jewish friends and business colleagues in Europe that travel to England and work at the mill. One of them fell in love with a local girl and, after internment in Australia and fighting for the Allies in Burma, returned to work at the mill, married and had a family, and lived a long and happy life. Unfortunately the story in "The Last Telegram" is not quite so straightforward!
Liz says: 'It is a coming of age story, a tale of love and loss, and how we come to terms with the mistakes we make.'
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