Review: The Seamstress by Allison Pittman
I will do my best to coherently express my thoughts on this book. I should have jotted down the things going through my head as I read the last couple chapters, because there were so many emotions and thoughts springing up between paragraphs as the full force of this novel hit me.
This isn’t a book for the faint of heart. I will start there. If you prefer lighthearted stories where everything is sunshine and rainbows by the end of the book, this may not be the one for you. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of book. I usually prefer “and they lived happily ever after” stories, myself. But sometimes a good dose of something heavier and more difficult to digest is well… good for you. It makes you think and stop to see life in a different light for a while.
So, even if deeper, more somber toned books aren’t your usual cup of tea, if you’re feeling up to a different sort of adventure, I HIGHLY encourage you to dive into this breathtaking story.
Here’s the back cover description and then I’ll share more of my thoughts.
A beautifully crafted story breathes life into the cameo character from the classic novel A Tale of Two Cities.
France, 1788
It is the best of times . . .
On a tranquil farm nestled in the French countryside, two orphaned cousins―Renée and Laurette―have been raised under the caring guardianship of young Émile Gagnon, the last of a once-prosperous family. No longer starving girls, Laurette and Renée now spend days tending Gagnon’s sheep, and nights in their cozy loft, whispering secrets and dreams in this time of waning innocence and peace.
It is the worst of times . . .
Paris groans with a restlessness that can no longer be contained within its city streets. Hunger and hatred fuel her people. Violence seeps into the ornate halls of Versailles. Even Gagnon’s table in the quiet village of Mouton Blanc bears witness to the rumbles of rebellion, where Marcel Moreau embodies its voice and heart.
It is the story that has never been told.
In one night, the best and worst of fate collide. A chance encounter with a fashionable woman will bring Renée’s sewing skills to light and secure a place in the court of Queen Marie Antoinette. An act of reckless passion will throw Laurette into the arms of the increasingly militant Marcel. And Gagnon, steadfast in his faith in God and country, can only watch as those he loves march straight into the heart of the revolution.
This, as you read in the above blurb, is the untold story of the little seamstress who plays an important role in the final pages of A Tale of Two Cities by the incomparable Charles Dickens. The author, Allison Pittman, when reading the classic novel with her English students, got to wondering what may have lead the seamstress to the fate she meets in Dickens’ tale. Thus inspired, she began writing this book. And I believe Dickens would be honored and proud of her work.
As Dickens wrote in his original tale, and as the back cover of this book intimates, this truly was the best of times and the worst of times in the lives of these characters. This was the best of stories and the worst of stories in that it both warms your heart and breaks it at the same time. It is a tale of unshakable love and loyalty, heart-wrenching forgiveness, courage, sacrifice, and more, with characters that feel like they really lived in this tumultuous era of history.
As I said at the beginning of this review, this is a book whose full impact does not hit you until the very end. I expected it to be solely the story of Renée and her role as a seamstress to the ill-fated Queen Marie Antoinette. What I discovered was that her story was so much deeper than I anticipated, and that this book could even be read instead as the story of her cousin, Laurette. Both young women, so different from each other, each headed down very difficult paths into the heart of history. One’s story exemplifies love and loyalty to those we cherish on earth and to God, while the other embodies God’s staggering grace and goodness towards even the most undeserving.
I also discovered that this book offers a unique and moving peek into history. The author admits in her notes at the end that she portrayed Marie Antoinette in an optimistic light for the sake of the story, and I’ve no doubt that the woman did have more flaws and darker streaks of character than portrayed here. But, I feel it’s likely Ms. Pittman wasn’t too far off the mark. I’ve no doubt that the queen was a woman stripped of what she loved in order to conform to the high expectations of her subjects, only to have them turn against her and hate her for things she did in her attempt to please them. I’ve little doubt she, her husband, and their children really were a family not much different from any other, if you stripped away the trappings of royalty. Human beings who longed to live out the rest of their days in peace with those they loved.
Though I confess I’ve never read A Tale of Two Cities and therefore wasn’t familiar with the seamstress’ role in it, I did happen to glimpse the final words of the book by accident after getting it in the mail (though already I had a feeling I knew how things would turn out). I was aware and prepared for the ending, but I wasn’t prepared for how the journey leading up to it would touch my heart. I sobbed through every word of the final chapter. Much to my satisfaction, every plot point and story line, both sad and happy, is tied up at the end, as if stitched into order by Renee’s own golden knotting shuttle.
There is still so much more I could say about this story, but I don’t want to give too much away, and this review is already long, so I will stop with this last comment… Allison Pittman is an artist, the page her canvas and the words her paint with which to craft a breathtaking picture. This was my first book of hers to read, but I will be watching for her work in the future.
As you probably have guessed, this book (which was nominated for a Christy award in 2019, by the way) is worthy of 5/5 Stars. If you love history, especially that of this era, and aren’t afraid to face the darker side of it in your reading, I beg you to read this book. Seriously. It will leave a lasting impact, I promise.
NOTE: as this book does deal with some difficult/sensitive subjects in a frank manner (though still from a Christian and non-explicit point of view), I would not recommend it for young teens.