a house of tailors by patricia reilly giff

While the author develops the relationship between Dina and her uncle subtly and gradually, readers may wish that the blossoming affection between the heroine and her love interest were equally fleshed out. Dina survives cramped living conditions, a smallpox epidemic, a devastating fire and recurring pangs of homesickness before finding her niche in Brooklyn. The author offers a realistic portrayal of hardships typical of the period. But Dina's skill with a needle along with her quick-wittedness and strong stubborn streak allow her to save the day for Uncle's family more than once. To make matters worse, he is a tailor by trade like Dina's widowed mother, and he expects Dina to continue doing what she detests most: stitching trousers and dresses for wealthy clients. Believing that all people in Brooklyn, N.Y., live 'in luxury,' Dina is bitterly disappointed to find out that her uncle is anything but rich. While war rages between Germany and France, Dina is sent to America to stay with her Uncle Lucas, his wife and baby daughter. Here she introduces 13-year-old Dina, a spunky, courageous heroine based on the author's great-grandmother. Readers will enjoy seeing 1870s Brooklyn through Dina’s eyes, and share her excitement as she discovers a new world., two novels inspired by family history, Giff takes another trip back, this time to 1870 Germany.

In Dina, the beloved writer Patricia Reilly Giff has created one of her most engaging and vital heroines. And she didn’t know that sewing would reveal her own wonderful talent–and her future. She didn’t know she could grow so close to her new family or to Johann, the young man from the tailor’s shop. She didn’t know she could be this homesick, but she didn’t know she could be so brave either, as she is standing up to an epidemic or a fire. Why did she ever leave home? Here she is, still with a needle and thread–and homesick to boot. Never again! But looking for a job leads her right back to the sewing machine. When 13-year-old Dina leaves her small town in Germany to join her uncle’s family in Brooklyn, she turns her back on sewing. Since she was tiny, she’s worked in her family’s dressmaking business, where the sewing machine is a cranky member of the family. Endless tiny stitches, button holes, darts.

SEWING! NO ONE could hate it more than Dina Kirk.

A house of tailors by patricia reilly giff