Set in 1960s Sicily, this coming-of-age novel follows a young girl's courageous struggle against longstanding traditions to gain autonomy over her life. Inspired by a true story, it explores themes of empowerment and resilience as she navigates societal expectations and personal aspirations, ultimately challenging the norms that seek to confine her.
Based on true events, a heartbreaking story of love, family, hope, and survival set in post-World War II Italy--written with the heart of Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours--about poor children from the south sent to live with families in the north to survive deprivation and the harsh winters. Though Mussolini and the fascists have been defeated, the war has devastated Italy, especially the south. Seven-year-old Amerigo lives with his mother Antonietta in Naples, surviving on odd jobs and his wits like the rest of the poor in his neighborhood. But one day, Amerigo learns that a train will take him away from the rubble-strewn streets of the city to spend the winter with a family in the north, where he will be safe and have warm clothes and food to eat. Together with thousands of other southern children, Amerigo will cross the entire peninsula to a new life. Through his curious, innocent eyes, we see a nation rising from the ashes of war, reborn. As he comes to enjoy his new surroundings and the possibilities for a better future, Amerigo will make the heartbreaking choice to leave his mother and become a member of his adoptive family. Amerigo's journey is a moving story of memory, indelible bonds, artistry, and self-exploration, and a soaring examination of what family can truly mean. Ultimately Amerigo comes to understand that sometimes we must give up everything, even a mother's love, to find our destiny.
In Sizilien 1960 wächst Oliva als mutiges Mädchen auf, doch mit dem Erwachsenwerden wird sie mit der Unterdrückung der Frauen konfrontiert. Als sie gezwungen wird, den Mann zu heiraten, der sie missbraucht hat, steht sie vor der Entscheidung, den Preis für ihre Rebellion zu zahlen. Ein fesselnder Roman über Mut und Hoffnung.
Dafne ist Mitte dreißig und hat sich zu ihrem Schutz im Lauf der Jahre eine Geometrie der Gefühle ausgearbeitet. Bisher kam sie damit ganz gut durch. Sie überträgt Geschichten, Gefühle und Personen in mathematische Zeichen, setzt alles in eine Gleichung und isoliert ein Ergebnis. Doch jetzt ist sie schwanger. Von einem Mann, den sie zwar mag, den sie aber nicht an sich heranlassen kann. Wie sie überhaupt noch nie jemanden wirklich an sich heranlassen konnte. Zum ersten Mal merkt sie, dass ihr etwas fehlt: die Erinnerung an ihre Kindheit. Nur wenn sie sich endlich mit dieser Zeit auseinandersetzt, wird sie echte Gefühle zulassen können. Ein Buch über eine starke junge Frau, die noch stärker wird, weil sie lernt, Schwäche zu zeigen.
Elba ha il nome di un fiume del Nord: è stata sua madre a sceglierlo. Prima vivevano insieme, in un posto che lei chiama il mezzomondo e che in realtà è un manicomio. Poi la madre è scomparsa e a lei non è rimasto che crescere, compilando il suo Diario dei malanni di mente, e raccontando alle nuove arrivate in reparto dei medici Colavolpe e Lampadina, dell’infermiera Gillette e di Nana la cana. Del suo universo, insomma, il solo che conosce. Almeno finché un giovane psichiatra, Fausto Meraviglia, non si ficca in testa di tirarla fuori dal manicomio, anzi di eliminarli proprio, i manicomi; del resto, è quel che prevede la legge Basaglia, approvata pochi anni prima. Il dottor Meraviglia porta Elba ad abitare in casa sua, come una figlia: l’unica che ha scelto, e grazie alla quale lui, che mai è stato un buon padre, impara il peso e la forza della paternità. Con la sua scrittura intensa, originale, piena di musica, Viola Ardone racconta che l’amore degli altri non dipende mai solo da noi. È questo il suo mistero, ma anche il suo prodigio.