Vita: A Novel
Couldn't load pickup availability
About this book
In April 1903 the steamship Republic spills more than two thousand immigrants onto Ellis Island. Among them are Diamante age twelve and Vita nine sent by their poor families in southern Italy to make their way in America. Amid the chaos and splendor of New York the misery and criminality of Little Italy and the shady tenants of Vitas fathers decrepit Prince Street boarding house Diamante and Vita struggle to survive to create a new life and to become American. From journeys west in search of work to journeys back to Italy in search of their roots to Vitas sons encounter with his mothers home town while serving as an army captain in World War II Vita touches on every aspect of the heartbreaking and inspiring immigrant story. The award-winning Italian author Melania G. Mazzucco weaves her own family history into a great American novel of the immigrant experience. A sweeping tale of discovery love and loss Vita is a passionate blend of biography and autobiography of fantasy and fiction.
