The Shoemaker's Wife, by Adriana Trigiani

Characters
Italy	America
Marco and Giacomina Ravanelli Enza Battista and Vittorio – brothers Eliana and Alma – sisters Stella – youngest sister who died   Caterina Lazzari Ciro Eduardo   Sister Teresa - Sisters of San Nicola Ignazio Farino   Don Gregorio – priest Concetta Martocci	Ciro – apprentice to Remo Enza – seamstress Son – Antonio   Marco – working in mines and out west   Remo and Carla Zanetti – shoemaker   Luigi Latini – friend Ciro met on ship, apprentice to Remo Pappina – Luigi’s girlfriend and wife Angela - daughter     Buffa family – distant cousins of Giacomina Anna and 3 daughters   Laura Heery – Enza’s friend – blouse factory   Serafina Ramunn – Metropolitan Opera House   Enrico Caruso   Vito Blazek – Publicity director for Met   Colin Chapin – Accountant at Met

For discussion:

NOTE: page numbers are from the hardback edition of book

1. When Ciro was offered the job in the ship’s boiler room by the bursar, Massimo Zito, he bargained for a much higher pay.  Do you think he was sophisticated enough at that point to do that?

2. When Luigi and Ciro landed in American the author wrote that they, “…came face to face with the engine of American life: You work and then you spend.” (page 136) Is this a true assessment of America at that time?

3. On page 164 the author described Carla Zanetti and a “snob” and wrote that she was reinventing herself and looked down on fellow Italian immigrants.  Do you think this was common as some immigrants were able to be more successful than others?

4. The scullery job that Enza and Laura took turned out to be a turning point for them (page 238).    On page 209 Ciro questioned, “But really, are there accidents?  Or does fate determine time and place and opportunity?”   What do you think?

5. From reading this book, how would you evaluate America’s welcome of immigrants before the first World War?  When Ciro and Luigi were talking with a young man entering the service they felt, “the slight judgement that said immigrants were a necessary fact of life, one that must be tolerated but never truly accepted.”  (page 216)  

6. Did you think it was fair that Enza sent all her money back to Italy? 

7. When Enza left the Buffa home it was understandable that the Buffa family would insult her.  But why did the neighbors join in?  (page 226)

8. Ciro learned two lessons during the war: “that good men can’t fix what evil men are intent on destroying” and “a soldier could not count on anything – his commanding officer, his fellow infantrymen, his country, or the weather.  He only had luck, or didn’t.”  (page 304)   Do you agree?

9. When Eduardo joined the priesthood he was expected to give up all contact with his family.  Is this still the practice?  Did you think this was necessary?

10. This book was written in 2012.  What did you think about the author including the misconduct by Don Gregorio in the novel? 

11. When Enza learned that Vito Blazek had three wives she felt that she was lucky that she had avoided being married to him as his first wife.  Is it possible that Vito would have remained happily and faithfully married to Enza if she has not cancelled her marriage?

12. Do you blame Caterina for leaving her sons at the convent?  Did she have any other choices?

13. How was Luigi leaving Angela with Enza different from Caterina leaving her sons?

14. The importance of music was a theme that ran through this book (Enrico Caruso, the Opera, Angela’s singing voice).  Were you able to relate to that? 

15. What did you think of the chapter titles?  They referred to one small item in each chapter.  Would you have changed them?

16. Discuss your reading experience.  How many Kleenex (if any) did you use??  Did you learn anything from reading this book?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

 

A Fifty-year Silence, by Miranda Richmond Mouillot

REVIEW:  My favorite part of this book was the postscript.  The author’s reflections and final conclusions were very moving.  I also learned a lot from this book about the effects of the Holocaust on the Jewish people then and now as well as the aging process in general and the relationship between grandparent and grandchild.   It made me think differently about one’s heritage and how it forms you as a child and adult.  But did I enjoy the book?   That is a difficult question.  It was tough at times to read and also at times I got bogged down in Miranda’s story and the house in Alba.  I wanted to know the reason for the fifty-year silence and so I kept going.   In the end I am very glad I read the book and I keep thinking about it.  So I will recommend it to others, particularly book groups.  It will lead to a very interesting and insightful discussion.   I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for this review. 

People
1937-1946	Current
Armand Jacoubovitch – interpreter at Nuremburg Trials Anna Munster - doctor Alma – Anna’s sister Erna – Austrian refugee, escaped with Armand and Anna Madame Flamand Dr. Joseph Angirany – Supervisor at sanatorium in Hauteville	Miranda – granddaughter and author Julian – husband Estelle Anna - daughter Robert Richmond and Kathleen Mavournin – father and stepmother Ileana Grams-Moog and Robert Moog (Abah) – mother and stepfather

For discussion:

NOTE – Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Miranda wrote about how her grandmother was planning her life.  Do you really think so or was that just how things played out?

2. What was the significance of the dish from Aubette?  Why do you think Anna kept it for so long?

3. On page 209 the author wrote about how Armand and Anna’s paths differed once they were separated and she made the point that they both had positive and negative aspects of their lives that they could dwell on.  She wrote, “If their fortunes differed, it was likely because my grandmother had taken her stubborn high spirits with her when they parted ways.”  How much impact does your positive or negative view of the world have on your life?

4. How did you think the author was subconsciously affected by her family’s and her nationality’s past history?  Is that possible if no one in the family discussed it with her?

5. What do you think will happen to the author’s daughter, Estella?  Will she have the same experiences?

6. What was the effect of the Nuremburg Trials on Armand?  Could he have handled them any differently?   Do you think it was fair to ask him to perform that task?

7. Did your idea of Armand change as you read the book and understood what he had done at Nuremburg?

8. Why do you think Armand and Anna never spoke but never divorced?  On page 211 the author wrote, “Maybe that’s why they couldn’t let go of each other: they each held within themselves the memory of who the other person was before the war made them remarkable in ways they  had not chosen.”

*Also consider the following:

>Page 258 regarding the effect of the trials: “My grandfather’s personality could not withstand it.  He hardened around that knowledge, and his hardness cut my grandmother to the quick.”

>Page 259: She could love a man with whom she had been through so much, but she could not let him drag her down into an existence devoted to remembering."

9. Discuss your reading experience.  Did you like the book?  Would you have liked it to move differently?  Was the ending and explanation of Armand and Anna worth the time it took you to get there?  Did you learn anything?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociaiton.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.