Wednesday 7 May 2014

The Forgotten Seamstress - Liz Trenow

It is 1910 and Maria, a talented young girl from the East end of London, is employed to work as a seamstress for the royal family. As an attractive girl, she soon catches the eye of the Prince of Wales and she in turn is captivated by his glamour and intensity.

But careless talk causes trouble and soon Maria’s life takes a far darker turn. Disbelieved and dismissed she is thrown into a mental asylum, shut away from the real world with only her needlework for company.

Can a beautiful quilt, discovered many years later, reveal the truth behind what happened to Maria?

My thoughts:
This book was really sad at times, not the oh no that person died sad, but heartbreaking sad of how Maria was treated. The cruelty of the world made me so angry.

Maria was young, happy, and fell in love with a prince. You know that that will not end well and it does not. The book is told through Maria when she becomes a seamstress, Maria when she is interviewed in the 70s and is believed to be crazy and through Caroline in our time, she finds a quilt and wants to know who made it.

The first story leads Maria to her doom. In the 70s flashbacks we see that she was in a mental asylum, but why? And that was the heartbreaking part. I got so angry there that I stopped for a moment. And the thing is, that I did not know if anything Maria said was true either. That was the intriguing part too, did she tell the truth or was she insane?

Conclusion:
So it was a mystery to be solved and the ending was a good one. I enjoyed the book.

cover
nice

Paperback, 336 pages
Published May 6th 2014 by Sourcebooks Landmark (first published December 5th 2013)
Historical fiction / fiction
for review

43 comments:

  1. I think this book sounds too sad for me, but I was checking it out too - I saw some adverts for it. I'm glad you enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're reading too many sad books these days! :P

    ~Mogsy

    ReplyDelete
  3. does sound like a heartbreaking story, I am looking forward to hopefully reading this one day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds sad but intriguing. And if it makes you wonder if she spoke the truth or not, that's great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The heroine sounds like she made you second guess... why did she make you so mad?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She did not make me mad, she made me sad cos of things done to her

      Delete
  6. I almost read this one, but I didn't want to deal with the sad. I read this author's The Last Telegram last year and liked it overall but it too had some sad themes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they are the same with the sad themes. Cos it was not sad all the time but that one big thing

      Delete
  7. Oh I would be angry too, but you make a good point... was she truth telling or insane? Oh the discussions!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have the hardest time with sad books. When I read I don't usually want to be sad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But it was not I am gonna cry sad, just angry sad

      Delete
  9. This sounds good, I love that there is a mystery..but I will need chocolate for the sadness!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aw, poor Maria! I don't usually like sad books of any kind but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Whew I think that's one you'd have to be in a certain mood to enjoy. Glad it worked for you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh it's intriguing and I confess I would like to know if what she said is true or not now.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh geez . . . unreliable narrators are either the absolute best or absolute WORST. Maybe will check out . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was the best as, well I always wanted to believe her and did believe her, but then I doubted for a sec

      Delete
  14. Sounds very nice - I like the idea behind the quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like that purple thread on the cover.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I may have to avoid this book (as much as it intrigues me), because I can imagine myself getting very, very angry with it. Stories like that anger me, but I enjoy them. A weird complex. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was not angry all the time, but for a part because people suck!

      Delete
  17. The cruelty in this book will likely make me angry too, but that just means I'm really involved in the story and that's always a good thing! Beautiful cover on this one:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's true! Involvement is good, it makes me feel more for everyone, and then I certainly do not get bored

      Delete
  18. I do love an unreliable narrator, when you're not sure whether it's the truth or just insanity. But this sounds like a heartbreaking story! I feel bad for Maria and I haven't even met her yet. Lovely review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was so heartbreaking, I mean, omg, so angry still!

      Delete
  19. I'm reading this next week. I have a feeling it will make me mad and sad too. Glad the ending was a good one!

    ReplyDelete
  20. This sound like a heartbreaking read, I'm not sure I'm in the mood for one of those. Maybe another day.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Glad you liked it B, not for me though it is intriguing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This I want!! and I love the cover :)

    ReplyDelete