In my humble opinion, this book deserves to be among the great family sagas of all time and definitely a winner of several solid awards. Since I said that, I promise you I have never met, conversed with, or was in touch in any way with this author before I read this novel through Amazon’s Prime Reading. My opinions stand solely on the merits of the book. I am going to try write this review without giving much away from its plot because I believe this is a book that has to be read, and I am so very glad I read it.

The author’s storytelling is exquisite to begin with. He doesn’t shy away from the hardness of his characters or their harsh actions, but he also shows their human side while his own empathy for them shines through his words.

The story is told through the viewpoints of the four characters, and therefore, it is in four sections. The first section was David’s, the American-born son of the family. At the end of David’s section, I was shocked at what the author did to him. I had mistakenly taken David to be the only protagonist and viewpoint character. I found out, as I read, that the real protagonist wasn’t David but his entire family.

Then, the characterization is hauntingly somber and yet, caring. Almost all characters in the story are flawed, some because of their own faults but also, because of the culture they reflect, and the author treats that culture with compassion and integrity, unlike the most other stereotypical stories of the same culture that other writers and the movie industry have exploited. What is most important to know is that the hostility and negativity that ran through the veins of the characters, at the end, eased down to some form of forgiveness.

As far as the general theme and the lesser themes go, what attracted my attention the most were the feelings of guilt just about by everyone. Although, the deep connection to roots and land, almost like fate, seems to be the main theme that runs through the story, as well the theme of loss and its effect on people, even if Salvatore and Nella tried to break free from that loss and fate with little success.

Most of the story is told not quite chronologically, but retrospectively, as its origins are rooted in what happened to Italian people and specifically to one Italian soldier Vincenzo during the World War II. Even in the parts of the story, where the events are happening in the storytime's now, a reader feels or is carried back to the past, mainly the worship of a saint and a statue.

The first location or the familiar land is Melilli, in Sicily, with its patron saint, St. Sebastian. Later, some of its residents are re-rooted to USA, in Middletown that they call “Little Melilli,” which shows their attachment to their motherland. This attachment is evident in the fact that, when they move to Middletown, their convictions, views, superstitions, and biases also move with them as well as their hostilities and contentions.

The story’s framework is original and masterly and it is written with a wistful prose, in some sections almost poetical. I think these words from the book, hint at its essence quite well: "Loss sets its own clock. It distorts time and memory, makes days and years short and perpetual all at once."

the story's literariness, the author's skill with language, and his handling of the subject with responsibility and respect.

that my time was well-spent

is Marco Rafalà, a first-generation Sicilian American novelist, musician, and game writer for award-winning tabletop role-playing games. He earned his MFA in Fiction from The New School and is co-curator of the Guerrilla Lit Reading Series in New York City. Born in Middletown, Connecticut, he now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

I loved everything about it, its cultural flavor, plot, characters, conflict(s), humanness, and the author's skill in storytelling.

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Created Jun 16, 2020 at 3:16pm • Submit your own review...