Italian American Women Writers: Forging Identities Through a Shared Immigrant Heritage: Fiction

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani returns with the most epic and ambitious novel of her career--a breathtaking multigenerational love story that spans two continents, two World Wars, and the quest of two star-crossed lovers to find each other again. The Shoemaker's Wife is replete with the all the page-turning adventure, sumptuous detail, and heart-stopping romance that has made Adriana Trigiani, "one of the reigning queens of women's fiction" (USA Today). Fans of Trigiani's sweeping family dramas like Big Stone Gap and Lucia, Lucia will love her latest masterpiece, a book Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, calls "totally new and completely wonderful: a rich, sweeping epic which tells the story of the women and men who built America dream by dream."

This novel unfolds as a series of entries in the journal of a suburban housewife attending college for the first time at the age of thirty-five. Ella's growing consciousness begins to shake the foundations of her life, and she comes to the realization that she is irrevocably changed--and that to be true to herself, she must make painful choices. First published in 1972,Ella Price's Journal is a deeply authentic literary rendering of a woman's struggle to give voice to what Betty Friedan inThe Feminine Mystique called "the problem that has no name," and a novel that affirms the possibility of growth toward a richly intense and authentic life at any age.

Everybody around lawyer Mary DiNunzio has decided she isn't allowed to be a Young Widow anymore, even though she didn't know there was an official cutoff. They're all trying to fix her up -- her South Philly Italian parents, her best friend Judy Carrier, even the office security guard. All Mary wants to do is immerse herself in a case everybody else calls "The History Channel", a pro bono representation of the Brandolini estate. The roots of the matter sink deep into the past, when Amadeo Brandolini emigrated to Philadelphia, started a family, and built up a small fishing business. At the outbreak of World War II, Brandolini was arrested by the FBI as part of a mass internment of Italian-Americans and was sent to a camp in Montana, where he eventually committed suicide. Now, more than sixty years later, his son's estate hires Mary to sue for reparations. Mary vows to vindicate Amadeo even though it won't be easy. With only a lock of hair, an old wallet, and a sheet of paper filled with odd doodles to go on, the tenacious lawyer begins to research the case but finds instead puzzling new questions. Someone doesn't want Mary to find the truth, and before long, her life is threatened. Suddenly, the quiet, squeaky-clean good girl who never left Mercer Street is risking life and limb to finger a killer and lay a beloved ghost to rest. New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline delivers a stunning new tale filled with witty dialogue, vibrant characters, and breakneck pacing, in which true-life history reinforces her hallmark themes of justice and family. As entertaining as it is poignant, Killer Smile is a surefire bestseller from a writer at the peak of her talents.

In this warm, enchanting debut novel, Rosanna Chiofalo evokes the extraordinary beauty of Venice, the charm of a close-knit New York neighborhood, and the joys of friendship, family, and surprising second chances. . . Valentina DeLuca has made hundreds of brides' dreams come true. At Sposa Rosa, the Astoria, New York, boutique where she, her sisters, and their mother design and sew couture knock-off gowns, she can find the perfect style for even the most demanding customer. Now, it's her turn. Valentina has loved Michael Carello ever since he rescued her from a cranky shopkeeper when she was ten years old. He's handsome, chivalrous, and loyal. And in a few weeks, she's going to marry him--in Venice. But just when she thinks everything is falling into place, Valentina is forced to re-examine her life to see what truly makes her happy. And as she soon learns, in a place as magical as Venice, what seems like misfortune can turn out to be anything but, although who knows what may be waiting around the next corner? The chance to enjoy a moonlit gondola ride, to sip Prosecco in St. Mark's Square, to eat mouthwatering gelato, to put aside "sensible" for once and see where the warm Italian breezes guide her as she visits all the sights she's dreamed of: The Doge's Palace, Il Rialto, the little islands of Murano and Burano. And maybe, along the way, to discover that bella fortuna--good luck--isn't what you're given, but what you make. Advance praise for Bella Fortuna "Like a gondolier navigating the canals of Venice, Rosanna Chiofalo takes you on a magical ride filled with family and friends, love and loss, heartbreak and happiness. Bella Fortuna is a warm glimpse into Italian-American life." --Holly Chamberlin, author of Last Summer "Reading Rosanna Chiofalo's depiction of a modern Italian-American family is like digging into a fresh bowl of pasta--warm, welcome, and satisfying. A deeply felt debut that affirms the importance of friends and family--Italian-style." --Lisa Verge Higgins, author of The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship "From the streets of New York to the canals of Venice, Rosanna Chiofalo creates a warm and lively story the reader won't want to see end. Valentina DeLuca is a heroine with intelligence, heart, and courage, the kind of person every woman wants for a dear friend. Time spent with her is a sheer joy." --Mary Carter, author of The Pub Across The Pond "Go to Venice. Ride a gondola. See St. Mark's square. Chase the pigeons. Then go back to your hotel room overlooking a canal, take out Bella Fortuna, and read. It will make your whole day perfetto." --Cathy Lamb, author of A Different Kind of Normal

Publishers Weekly calls Helen Barolini's now-classic novel of immigration "an ambitious saga which spans the history and probes some of the tensions of the Italian American... Panoramic, descriptive and solidly crafted." When the book was first published in 1979, thePhiladelphia Inquirer called it "an important novel for these times. . . . Through a dazzling interplay of American and Italian characters in both countries, Helen Barolini delineates the major concerns of all thinking American ethnics." This is no less true today, as this republication restoresUmbertina to a reading public newly attuned to the complexities of cultural inheritance and identity. This multigenerational novel begins in Calabria, as Umbertina persuades her husband to emigrate. Through years of struggle on New York City's Lower East Side and in a growing upstate New York town, it is Umbertina's determination, ingenuity, and business sense that propel the family into financial success and security--leaving her daughters and granddaughters to sort out their identities as Italian Americans and as women.

Set in Chicago during the 1940s and 1950s,Paper Fish is populated by hardworking Italian-American immigrants whose heroism lies in their quiet, sometimes tragic humanity. At the center of the novel is young Carmolina, who is torn between the bonds of the past and the pull of the future --a need for home and a yearning for independence. Carmolina's own story is interwoven with the stories of her family: the memories and legends of her Grandmother Doria; the courtship tales of her father, a gentle policeman and her mother, a lonely waitress; and the painful story of Doriana, her beautiful but silent sister.

In 1904, fourteen-year-old Lucia and her young mother Teresa are servants in a count's lush villa on the Bay of Naples. Between scrubbing floors and polishing silver, Teresa soothes the unhappy countess with songs until one morning calamity hurls mother and daughter to America, exchanging their gilded cage for Cleveland's taut immigrant neighbourhoods. Lucia blossoms and Teresa wins fleeting fame on the tawdry stage of vaudeville until old demons threaten their new life. As roles reverse, mother and daughter reshape their fierce and primal bond.

    These ten magical stories are primarily set in Pittsburgh-area river towns, where Italian American women and girls draw from their culture and folklore to bring life and a sense of wonder to a seemingly barren region of the Rust Belt. Each story catapults the ordinary into something original and unpredictable.     A skeptical journalist scopes out the bar where the town mayor, in seemingly perfect health, is drinking with his buddies and celebrating what he claims is the last day of his life. A woman donates her dead mother's clothes to a thrift shop but learns that their destiny is not what she expected. A ten-year-old girl wrestles with the facts of life as she watches her neighbor struggle to get pregnant while her teenage sister finds it all too easy. A high school girl hallucinates in a steamy hospital laundry room and discovers she can see her coworkers' futures. A developer's wrecking ball is no match for the legend of Giovanna's green thumb in the title story "Giovanna's 86 Circles."     Quirky and profound, Corso's magical leaps uncover the everyday poetry of these women's lives. Finalist for the John Gardner Fiction Book Award Selected for "Best Short Stories of 2005" in Montserrat Review Best Books for Regional Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Association Sons of Italy National Book Club Selection  

"Rosa Salvatore is a nice Italian girl who lusts after beautiful shoes, junk food, and the one sensitive man with whom she can share the sad story of her life. Gary Fisher, a nice Jewish boy studying law at Yale, has a big mouth, a great butt, and more than enough angst of his own. In him Rosa thought she caught a momentary glimpse of something that would help her understand the world - surpass it, even. But the not-so-nice illness that comes between them threatens to destroy their shaky faith in each other, not to mention their faith in God and the universe." "Rosa loves Gary like a big war. When the guns fall silent, what will be left?" "Perfectly capturing life's everyday ironies and the small moments of recognition that loom large in hindsight, Blue Italian traces Rosa's courtship and brief marriage to a man who gets on her nerves the first day she sets eyes on him. We are drawn into the separate worlds of their childhoods: Pizza Beach, the working-class Italian neighborhood where women hang their tattered dishrags on the line like so many flags of surrender; where Rosa's father keeps a photo of Mussolini tacked up in the garage and Rosa's mother goes to church so often she might as well sleep there. We visit the affluent bedroom communities of Long Island, where the Lincoln Town Car rules the expressway and Gary's socially ambitious mother Mimi gets her face lifted on a seasonal basis, and finally we get a peek at Artie Fisher, whose complete adoration of his son proves the power - despite its limitations - of human love."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In Suzanne Palmieri's charming debut, The Witch of Little Italy, you will be bewitched by the Amore women. When young Eleanor Amore finds herself pregnant, she returns home to her estranged family in the Bronx, called by The Sight they share now growing strong within her. She has only been back once before when she was ten years old during a wonder-filled summer of sun-drenched beaches, laughter and cartwheels. But everyone remembers that summer except her. Eleanor can't remember anything from before she left the house on her last day there. With her past now coming back to her in flashes, she becomes obsessed with recapturing those memories. Aided by her childhood sweetheart, she learns the secrets still haunting her magical family, secrets buried so deep they no longer know how they began. And, in the process, unlocks a mystery over fifty years old - The Day the Amores Died - and reveals, once and for all, a truth that will either heal or shatter the Amore clan.

Fiction. Italians as indentured laborers in Southern cotton plantations at the turn of the 20th century? Entire families scrabbling to survive, dying of malaria, building relationships with their neighbors, many the first generation of freed slaves? SWEET HOPE unleashes the little known story of Italians who came looking for a better life in La Terra Nuova and found hardship, misery, and their own form of slavery instead.

Aristede was a man of passion and heart, a stone carver and opera tenor born in Carrara, Italy in 1882. Over one hundred years later, his spirit reaches out to help his troubled great granddaughter. A dramatic three-act tale spanning a century in the life of a vigorous Italian family.

A stirring historic novel set in Depression-era Brooklyn, "The El" weaves an unforgettable family saga.In the shadow of the elevated train (called "The El," for short), a loud, lusty Italian-American clan resides: Poppa, the kindly patriarch; Bridget, his loving wife and mother of their six grown children; Rosanna, their eldest, who is married to Tony, an evil, dangerous drunk; Kewpie, their nubile teenage daughter and Tiger, their scrappy ten-year old son. A stark drama quickly unfolds as a terrible secret is revealed.Told through the eyes of a quirky, colorful array of characters, the Paradisos struggle through seasons of joy, loss and desire, and experience simple delights. Here, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. It is a place of unconditional and unrequited love, where the unimaginable is indeed possible and the whims of a violent alcoholic threaten to destroy the idyllic applecart of the family's existence."The El" is simultaneously homey and horrific, innocent and erotic, magical and shocking. It is a complicated mosaic of light and dark, full of savory flavors and vivid, memorable images.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Now a major motion picture written and directed by Adriana Trigiani, starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, John Benjamin Hickey, Jane Krakowski, Anthony LaPaglia, and Jenna Elfman   Millions of readers around the world have fallen in love with the small town of Big Stone Gap, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and the story of its self-proclaimed spinster, Ave Maria Mulligan. In the series' enchanting debut, Ave Maria reaches her thirty-fifth year and resigns herself to the single life, filling her days with hard work, fun friends, and good books. Then, one fateful day, Ave Maria's past opens wide with the revelation of a long-buried secret that will alter the course of her life. Before she knows it, Ave Maria is fielding marriage proposals, trying to claim her rightful inheritance, and planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy--one that will change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Full of wit and wonder, hilarity and heart, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book, and one that you will share with friends and family for years to come.   Praise for Big Stone Gap   "Charming . . . Readers would do well to fall into the nearest easy chair and savor the story."--USA Today   "Delightfully quirky . . . chock-full of engaging, oddball characters and unexpected plot twists."--People   "[A] heartfelt tale . . . In an anecdotal style reminiscent of Fannie Flagg, Adriana Trigiani engagingly captures a slice of small-town America."--San Jose Mercury News