Helpful Score: 2
This was the August 2012 pick in my neighborhood book club. It's a sweeping family saga focusing on the lives of Ciro and Enza, two poor Italians from the same mountain town in Italy.
The story is set in the early 1900s and the reader goes through Ciro and Enza's separate migrations to America, and through the first and second World Wars. It's based on the relationship of the author's grandparents.
While the story had a few compelling moments, it was noticeably uneven. The early lives of the characters were explored at great length, while their later years flew by at the speed of light, by comparison. To serve the story as a whole, I felt there needed to be more of a balance.
The love story at the heart of the novel unfortunately never made its way into my heart. After a brief first meeting, there were too many fated coincidences, actions that felt out of character at times, and the depth of their connection just wasn't very well established, but taken for granted by the narrative. I didn't feel any real chemistry or depth between Ciro and Enza until much later in their relationship, long after they'd built a life together.
Overall, I thought it was an OK read. A great tribute to the author's family, but just a so-so novel. I enjoyed learning about life in the Italian Alps in the early 1900s, but there were just too many long-winded and unnecessary descriptions of colors, shades, hues and fabrics that made this book a chore to slog through at times. So at 470 hardcover pages, it was not an effortless read. C+
The story is set in the early 1900s and the reader goes through Ciro and Enza's separate migrations to America, and through the first and second World Wars. It's based on the relationship of the author's grandparents.
While the story had a few compelling moments, it was noticeably uneven. The early lives of the characters were explored at great length, while their later years flew by at the speed of light, by comparison. To serve the story as a whole, I felt there needed to be more of a balance.
The love story at the heart of the novel unfortunately never made its way into my heart. After a brief first meeting, there were too many fated coincidences, actions that felt out of character at times, and the depth of their connection just wasn't very well established, but taken for granted by the narrative. I didn't feel any real chemistry or depth between Ciro and Enza until much later in their relationship, long after they'd built a life together.
Overall, I thought it was an OK read. A great tribute to the author's family, but just a so-so novel. I enjoyed learning about life in the Italian Alps in the early 1900s, but there were just too many long-winded and unnecessary descriptions of colors, shades, hues and fabrics that made this book a chore to slog through at times. So at 470 hardcover pages, it was not an effortless read. C+
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