A Heart Most Worthy, by Siri Mitchell.

The elegance of Madame Forza's gown shop is a far cry from the downtrodden North End of Boston. Yet each day Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana enter the world of the upper class, working on finery for the elite in society. The three beauties each long to break free of their obligations and embrace the American dream--and their chance for love. But the ways of the heart are difficult to discern at times. Julietta is drawn to the swarthy, mysterious Angelo. Annamaria has a star-crossed encounter with the grocer's son, a man from the entirely wrong family. And through no intent of her own, Luciana catches the eye of Billy Quinn, the son of Madame Forza's most important client. Their destinies intertwined, each harboring a secret from their families and each other, will they be found worthy of the love they seek? {blurb from Bethany House website}

I finished reading A Heart Most Worthy, by Siri Mitchell, last night. The story revolves around three young Italian immigrants who work at Madame Forza's gown shop. It takes place in Boston in 1918. I really enjoyed this book. At the beginning, Siri Mitchell includes a list of the main characters' names. I'm one of those people who likes to get everybody's names straight at the beginning of a book, even though it's usually hard to do. So I appreciated the list! :) I loved the characters, especially the three young women: Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana. I liked the way that the author told each of the girls' stories separately, until it came time for them to intertwine. I think Annamaria was my favorite.

I was also really interested in the historical context of the story. It brings up a lot of information, especially about the Great Italian Emigration and the discrimination that Italians faced in America. And I liked learning about the Italian culture, such as what was expected from the eldest daughter in a family, and how they would rather associate with their own people than other groups of Italians (sometimes, as in this story, taking it to an extreme).

In this book, the narrator sometimes speaks directly to the reader. In most cases, I felt that this worked really well. But occasionally, it felt overdone.

So, I really enjoyed A Heart Most Worthy. It was slightly predictable but very interesting, with characters that you come to care about. I especially recommend it to historical fiction readers! This was the third book I've read by Siri Mitchell. She Walks in Beauty is still my favorite, but I liked this book much more than A Constant Heart.

{I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. I was only required to write an honest review.} 

Until next time,