I saw glowing reviews and recommendations of A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell on several blogs a few months ago. I picked up the book a couple of times, and the back cover said in part, “In 1918 Boston, three seamstresses dare to dream of a better life.” That didn’t really grab me. But, so many people whose tastes are similar to my own liked it, and…that gorgeous dress on the cover would tempt me to serious coveting if I lived in those times. So I finally decided to give the book a try.

Siri has crafted quite an intriguing historical novel set in the Italian section of Boston during a time of heavy migration of Italians from their country to America (which Siri says rightly in an end note has largely been forgotten — I had never heard of the Great Italian Emigration).  WWI and later the Spanish Influenza epidemic figure heavily into the plot, as do Italian family life, prejudice, poverty, and political unrest. And of course love.

Three very different girls poor Italian girls, Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana, work in Madame Fortier’s dress shop. Julietta wants to meld into American life, move up in the world, and have fun. Annamaria as the oldest daughter is destined by custom to care for her family, postponing or perhaps never having her own chance at love. Luciana just wants to survive, to provide for and protect herself and her grandmother and not attract too much attention so that the man who killed her father does not find them.

There were teary moments as well as at least one time when I almost gasped out loud (at realizing who someone was), times of feeling sad for, frustrated with, and happy for each of the characters.

Since the Italian population was primarily Catholic, naturally the church and spiritual influences in the book come from that vantage point. Since I am not Catholic myself, I would quibble with just a couple of things that were said in that vein, but the book did convey that forgiveness, grace, and help are available from God to those who turn to Him.

One feature that threw me a bit sometimes is that though most of the book is written from an omniscient or third-person point of view, every now and then the narrator breaks through and speaks to the reader directly. It jarred a bit because it was almost like someone speaking to you whom you’d forgotten was there. But the comments themselves were fun and a bit conspiratorial.

Overall I greatly enjoyed the book, and I just bought another Siri Mitchell book to try.

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)