LEAVING MARINELLA

Amato’s historical novel presents a multigenerational tale of Sicilian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.

The story opens in 1877, in Marinella, Sicily. Nine-year-old Saverio Mancuso is fighting off schoolmates who want him to declare his love for pretty Rosa Favale. After being pummeled, Saverio proclaims his love for the young girl (“Yes, I do love Rosa, and I want to kiss her on the mouth”). In 1888, the couple marries. Frustrated by the lack of opportunity in poverty-stricken Sicily, Saverio begins talking to Rosa about moving to America. In 1895, after suffering two miscarriages, Rosa dies while giving birth to their son, Tommaso. At only 5 years of age, Tommaso finds himself an orphan after Saverio dies of lung cancer, and, with his father’s best friend, Giacomo Capelli, he takes a ship to America. Frightened, the quiet little Tommaso (eventually called Thomas), taken under the protective wing of a kindly group of Sicilian men aboard the ship, grows up to become the American patriarch of the Mancuso clan. After arriving in New York, the men bring him with them to Detroit and place him in foster care under a brutal tyrant, Nunzio Davanzo, and his gentle wife, Angelina. Nunzio immediately puts the child to work as a newsboy toiling 12-hour days, even during the frigid winters. But Thomas is a smart youngster determined to make a success of his life as an American. Amato’s portrait of 19th-century Sicily is vivid and poignant. While the narrative verges into the melodramatic, the author’s chilling descriptions of living conditions during the transatlantic crossing, and of the reprehensible mistreatment Thomas suffers at the hands of Nunzio, make for addictive reading. Amiable, conversational prose and dialogue, in addition to a sizable cast of secondary characters with their own intriguing stories, capture the struggles of the Italian immigrant experience. Thomas is the emotional core of the novel; the intensity of the story eases when he moves to Norfolk, Virginia, and his life takes a dramatic, positive turn. While still engaging, the work becomes less riveting as the narrative moves forward with subsequent Mancuso generations.

Dramatic, packed with disturbing historical tidbits, and helmed by a memorable protagonist.