At the age of fourteen Seren angrily walked out of Gentile-run school in Budapest and apprenticed as a seamstress, determined to control her destiny. In prewar Hungary, as the Nazis encircled the country, and bombs rained down on them, Seren became her family's provider. When she was deported to Ravensbruck, it was with her beloved younger sister Esther and two close friends. By establishing a series of inviolate rules, Seren guided and cajoled, and managed to bring the four of them through the horrors of life in a concentration camp.

The Seamstress is a dramatic tale of courage, intimate friendship, romance, and startlingly good fortune that will have readers cheering.

Ultimately, Seren survived; she married a fellow survivor -- a tailor. They had two children, and came to the United States, where Sarah Tuval Bernstein built up a successful business -- as a seamstress.