I first discovered the writer Adriana Trigiani while on holiday last Summer. I’d picked up her ‘Big Stone Gap‘ for the bargain price of 99 pence, along with a stack of others in a local charity shop. It came highly recommended, with review sound bites from both Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopie Goldberg no less. Set in Virginia, it’s a romantic, feel-good tale of its narrator’s voyage of self discovery.
So when I spotted another title, ‘Lucia, Lucia’, by the same author in another charity shop recently I couldn’t resist! And I’m sew glad I didn’t. It’s the first time my two favourite hobbies of sewing and reading have collided so happily, and to such great effect 🙂 I’ve read a couple of novels involving knitting before: they were ‘ok‘ in a kind of lightweight, but if I’m honest, slightly naff way… This, however was well-written and totally convincing. It revolves around a young, Italian girl who becomes an apprentice for a clothing designer at a Fifth Avenue department store, and amongst other themes, charts the golden age of couture design in the most intricate detail. It really was a joy to read!
Around the same time I managed to get hold of the Autumn/ Winter, Burda Vintage Style Special. While I’ve no intention of making any of the beautiful designs featured any time soon (although I have spied a very tempting version of the Rosa Balloon Jacket over at handmadebychris.wordpress.com), what I loved about this publication was the in-depth history behind each style featured, complete with the most lovely images, sigh!
Sometimes it’s just as good to read about sewing as it is to actually do some sewing.. Has anyone else come across any other ‘sewing’ novels that you’d recommend?
navybluethreads 