This is another one from the Amazon 2011 list. Sira is a simple seamstress from Madrid, Spain, who falls in love with a man. The book follows her life from Madrid to Morocco, where she is betrayed by the man, finds herself in a heap of trouble, starts a new life as a dress-maker, makes a ton of friends and gets her mother to Morocco as well. This all occurs while Spain is going through a civil war (just prior to WWII - when Franco first came to power). Some of the characters that Sira meets and befriends are real historical figures.
At this point, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid as a spy for the British intelligence - in an effort to "keep an eye" on the spanish leadership and Nazi's who were working on gaining Spain as an ally. Some of the later parts of the book seemed a little far-fetched. However, overall I really liked it. It took a little bit of time to get into the book. However, the author does an excellent job describing her characters, and making you really care about what happens to them. She also does a good job of interweaving the historical events and characters with what happens to Sira. I didn't know if I was going to like the book going into it (a historical novel about a seamstress?!) - but I was pleasantly surprised. If anything, you learn a good bit of culture about Morocco and Spain during the pre-WWII era.
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