Do you know the history of the Great Italian Emigration to America in the late 1800s? I didn’t either until I read this unforgettable story of three young Italian girls trying to make their way in New York City. I love all of Siri Mitchell’s books, but this one is really special. ( )

I read only Historical Fiction Christian Romance novels, and I think Siri Mitchell is an absolutely gifted author in any genre. The details she spins are amazing. Tamara Alexander, Liz Curtis Higgs, Jan Turano are all good but Siri is the finest. I read some reviews that the book is hard to follow as it is told by a narrator. I totally disagree. I don't think the story could be told as eloquently if it was written from any other perspective. ( )

This story is set in 1918; three young Italian immigrant women are working in a Boston dress shop. Julietta enjoys flirting with the boys, and wishes she were American instead of Italian. She begins a romance with a handsome and mysterious stranger and soon finds herself in over her head.

Annamaria is the eldest girl in her family, and is expected to remain unmarried so that she can help take care of the family, and her parents when they reach old age. She has always been a dutiful daughter, but she can't help but wonder why she can't have a life for herself, especially when she finds herself falling for the son of the Sicilian grocer across the street, and her parents are also very prejudiced against Sicilians.

Luciana escaped Italy with her grandmother after the assassination of her father, the Count of Roma, and they had to leave everything behind. Money is running out, and Luciana gets a job at the dress shop doing bead work to put food on the table, but who will look after her grandmother while she is working? She also know the anarchist who killed her father is also in Boston, looking for her.

I really enjoyed this story, it was the perfect blend of history and romance. The romances were believable in the way they unfolded, and sweetly done, but not saccharine. The history of that time and place was well done, incorporating the effects of World War I on society, and the Spanish Flu epidemic. I enjoyed reading about Italian culture in America; it was interesting to learn that many of the Italians kept within their own groups depending upon which region of Italy they were from, and there was prejudice among the different groups, with Sicilians being the most scorned.

I liked how the girls all came from very different families, but they way they formed friendships happened very naturally and was believable. ( )

A Heart Most Worthy follows the lives of three young Italian women who all work in a dressmakers' shop, each plying their own highly refined and specialized skills. There seems to be a bit of a popular trend in Christian historical fiction following the lives of Italians in New York in the early 1900s, so if you've read one of those books recently, you'll have a good idea of the settings contained within.

Now, normally I LOVE Siri Mitchell's work. She is on my list of authors who I must read when a new work comes out. So, I was very disappointed that A Heart Most Worthy just isn't up to the level of the fine writing she has presented in her other titles. She Walks in Beauty is an absolutely amazing book, and I was hoping that Mitchell would write something comparable in her latest novel.

Unfortunately the diversity of characters, the omniscient point of view of the narrator (whom actually sound quite condescending although I'm sure those asides are meant to be humorous), and the shallow treatment of the subject matter and character development all left me wanting.

My favorite character was Annamaria, her love story is so sweet and actually fairly realistic if you believe in sweet, innocent love stories (I loved her thread of the story). Julietta never did really seem to grow up.

From another author I may not have been as disappointed. But from Siri Mitchell? I'm afraid I was. Please, please, don't write from an omniscient point of view again, it really does jerk the reader right out of the story when the narrator pops in with some odd comments that don't really move the story along or tell the reader anything that they can't figure out by inference.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this title.

Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com ( )

NCLA Review -This is a heartwarming book about three Italian immigrant girls who work in Madame Fortier’s dress shop in Boston in 1918. Each girl came from a different area in Italy and wants to be American and find love. Julietta, an embroiderer, is a defiant risk taker and falls for the wrong guy. Annamaria, a smocker, is a shy obedient daughter whose lot in life is to take care of her family and not marry. She falls in love with a man who is not from her region, which is just not done. Luciana, a beader, has a secret that haunts her and makes her wary of everyone. But the love of a good man tempts her. Siri Mitchell is a wonderful storyteller whose writing is so descriptive you feel you have been dropped into that period in history. She also throws in her point of view which was a bit confusing at first. At the beginning of the book is a helpful list of characters. There are discussion questions at the end. Rating: 4 —VJ ( )