An illuminating look at the lives of Italian immigrants in Canada in the run-up to World War II and beyond.
Scibetta’s historical novel examines the effects of geopolitical strife on a poor Sicilian family.
In 1920, Leonarda Bucci gives birth to her first son, Emilio, in Agrigento, Italy. Her husband Salvatore, tormented by his nightmarish World War I experiences fighting in the Piave, struggles to overcome the baby’s resemblance to his abusive uncle Aldo. The Bucci family is sustained by Salvatore’s employment on the estate of wealthy olive oil merchant Giovanni Savoia and his wife Maria. The two families become closely connected by the friendships between Leonarda and Maria Savoia and their respective children, Emilio and Floria, who are born at the same time. Italy’s economic and political turmoil motivates Maria, Floria, and the Bucci family (which now includes a second son, Raffaele) to emigrate to Canada by 1933. Adjusting to Canada proves difficult—the immigrants face anti-Italian prejudice in school and in everyday life, exacerbated by World War II. After Raffaele loses his temper in a local diner, Salvatore, Emilio, and Raffaele are arrested under the War Measures Act and sent to a hellish camp called Petawawa. Salvatore tells Emilio, “When I was a soldier, I let them kill parts of me I wish I hadn’t…But you and only you have the power to let them die. They may lead you to believe that they have that power, but that is wrong. Only you do.” These words sustain Emilio through his time in Petawawa and a number of tragic losses. Scibetta’s compelling work of historical fiction explores themes of family dynamics, prejudice, and love with a narrative that vividly illustrates the hatred and discrimination that Italian immigrants to Canada faced during the 1930s and throughout World War II. In the current climate of demonization of immigrants, this work provides a unique and welcome historical perspective on displacement.
An illuminating look at the lives of Italian immigrants in Canada in the run-up to World War II and beyond.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781738997596
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Golden Mile Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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