Presentation of The Seamstress

Author Maria Duenas in conversation with Jimmy Burns

Date: Monday 17 December @ 18.30
Location: Instituto Cervantes London, 102 Eaton Square, London, SW1W 9AN

Presentation and discussion in Spanish and English
Organised by Penguin Books UK, Instituto Cervantes Londres, Books4Spain and The Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Spanish Embassy, London

The Seamstress (El tiempo entre costuras) is a best selling Spanish novel and its author, Maria Duenas, comes to Instituto Cervantes London to discuss the novel with Jimmy Burns, himself an author of several books inclouding Papa Spy, La Roja , a journey through Spanish football and Barcelona, a people’s passion.

Suddenly left abandoned and penniless in Algiers by her lover, Sira Quiroga forges a new identity. Against all odds she becomes the most sought-after couture designer for the socialite wives of German Nazi officers. But she is soon embroiled in a dangerous political conspiracy as she passes information gleaned from her German Nazi clients’ unguarded gossiping to the British Secret Service through a code stitched into the hems of her dresses…

 Extract from the Review by Kirsty Hooper, Reader of Spanish Studies at Warwick Universities (previously at Liverpool University) 

The Seamstressis an enthralling example of the current boom in Spanish historical novels that walk the delicate line between fiction, memory and national history…………   Overall, this is a gripping novel with a compelling narrative, which brings a forgotten aspect of Spanish – and British – history to life. Sira is an engaging heroine who makes some horrible mistakes and some fabulous dresses. Recommended!  Kirsty Hooper  Read full review.

Kirsty is a specialist in Spanish and Galician Studies. She specialises above all in the culture and literature of Galicia, but is now branching out to work on the Basque Country and the Canary Islands too. She’s especially interested in Anglophone communities in Spain and Hispanic communities in the UK, and her ‘Hispanic Liverpool’ project (http://www.kirstyhooper.net/home-page/hispanic-liverpool/) has traced some 2000 Liverpudlians of Hispanic origin. http://booksonspain.wordpress.com/

Books4Spain is the No 1 online bookshop for ebooks and books about Spain, ranging from subjects such Flamenco, the Spanish Civil War, Camino de Santiago as well as Spanish Literature in translation, Crime Fiction books set in Spain,  books about Living in Spain, Novels set in Spain, Spanish Cook & Recipe books and much more as well as books about Spanish authors and artists such as Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dali, Picasso, Franco, Bunuel etc.