She rose to fame in 2009 with El tiempo entre costuras, her first novel, which became one of the best-selling works of Spanish literature in recent years and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

[4] While preparing for her doctoral degree, she worked as teacher at the Military Base of Los Alcázares.

[2] She earned a position as senior lecturer at the University of Murcia, where she worked for around two decades.

[3] Dueñas came into the spotlight in 2009, achieving great success in Spain thanks to her first novel, El tiempo entre costuras, published in English as The Time in Between, and The Seamstress, a historical espionage novel, which sold more than a million copies.

El tiempo entre costuras revolves around the figure of Sira Quiroga, a seamstress who moves to Morocco with her boyfriend right before the uprising that would lead to the Spanish Civil War.