Taquaritinga do Norte, Brazil, 1928. As seamstresses, the young sisters Emília and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, mend, and conceal. These are useful skills in the backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros. While Emília dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to a big city, Luzia, scarred by a childhood accident that left her with a deformed arm, finds her escape in sewing and in secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life.     
  
But when Luzia is abducted by a group of cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk, the sisters' quiet lives diverge in ways they never imagined. Emília stumbles into marriage with Degas Coelho, the son of a doctor whose wealth is rivaled only by his political power, and moves to the sprawling seaside city of Recife. Luzia, forced to trek through scrubland and endure a nomadic existence, proves her determination to survive and begins to see the cangaceiros as comrades, not criminals.  

An enthralling novel of love and courage, loyalty and adventure, that brings to life a faraway time and place, The Seamstress is impeccably drawn, rich in depth and vision, and heralds the arrival of a supremely talented new writer.


From the Compact Disc edition.