Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Time in Between / The Seamstress | 2009 | Maria Duenas | Buy |
| 2 | The Heart Has Its Reasons | 2012 | Maria Duenas | Buy |
| 3 | The Vineyard | 2015 | Maria Duenas | Buy |
| 4 | Sira | 2023 | Maria Duenas | Buy |
Maria Duenas is a Spanish novelist and professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Murcia. Her debut novel, El tiempo entre costuras (published in English as The Time in Between and The Seamstress), sold over a million copies in Spain and has been translated into more than 25 languages. It was also adapted into a popular television series.
The Time in Between follows Sira Quiroga, a young seamstress who moves to Morocco with her boyfriend just before the uprising that leads to the Spanish Civil War. After being abandoned and facing serious hardship, she rebuilds her life by opening a sewing workshop and eventually gets drawn into espionage. Duenas followed this success with The Heart Has Its Reasons (2012), The Vineyard (2015), and Sira (2023), a sequel that returns to the character from her debut. All four novels blend historical settings with personal stories about women finding their way through turbulent times.