Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely loved this story of Stella. Once I finished the book I rushed to Google to see if I could find out how true this life story was since it was based on the authors family. The story does have a lot of hardship, but that’s real life. We don’t always have the happy ending we hope for but we survive…and that’s what this story was about for me.
★★★★☆
Nos encontramos ante una biografía novelada muy interesante y sumamente detallada de Stella Fortuna, narrada por una de sus nietas. Obviamente su vida es digna de ser escrita pues sobrevivió a varias muertes a lo largo de largos años enfrentándose también a diversos problemas.
En esta novela no solo conoceremos a personajes entrañables y a los que es imposible no coger cariño, sino que también nos situarán en un contexto histórico que da mucho juego a la trama. Veremos como la gente pobre del sur de Italia se ve obligada a emigrar a America en busca de un futuro mejor, al comienzo de la segunda guerra mundial.
La situación familiar es dramática y nos brinda una apasionante historia llena de momentos enriquecedores y tristes a la vez. Stella es una mujer fuerte y valiente que quiere y lucha ante todo por su libertad. Lo único que la motiva a salir adelante de todos los percances que se ponen en su camino es su independencia y valía ante una familia que no se lo pone fácil.
La pluma de la autora es magistral, a pesar de tener un gran número de páginas en ningún momento se hace pesado. Trata temas muy difíciles como el maltrato, la imposición de la maternidad y el machismo. Sin duda lo que más me ha gustado es el desarrollo de los personajes y la trama que no desfallece.
Os recomiendo mucho darle una oportunidad, es una obra distinta y que nos habla de la extraña vida de una protagonista que difícilmente olvidaré. Cargada de detalles, de momentos irrepetibles y de sentimientos y emociones que hacen de este un libro maravilloso.
Nos encontramos ante una biografía novelada muy interesante y sumamente detallada de Stella Fortuna, narrada por una de sus nietas. Obviamente su vida es digna de ser escrita pues sobrevivió a varias muertes a lo largo de largos años enfrentándose también a diversos problemas.
En esta novela no solo conoceremos a personajes entrañables y a los que es imposible no coger cariño, sino que también nos situarán en un contexto histórico que da mucho juego a la trama. Veremos como la gente pobre del sur de Italia se ve obligada a emigrar a America en busca de un futuro mejor, al comienzo de la segunda guerra mundial.
La situación familiar es dramática y nos brinda una apasionante historia llena de momentos enriquecedores y tristes a la vez. Stella es una mujer fuerte y valiente que quiere y lucha ante todo por su libertad. Lo único que la motiva a salir adelante de todos los percances que se ponen en su camino es su independencia y valía ante una familia que no se lo pone fácil.
La pluma de la autora es magistral, a pesar de tener un gran número de páginas en ningún momento se hace pesado. Trata temas muy difíciles como el maltrato, la imposición de la maternidad y el machismo. Sin duda lo que más me ha gustado es el desarrollo de los personajes y la trama que no desfallece.
Os recomiendo mucho darle una oportunidad, es una obra distinta y que nos habla de la extraña vida de una protagonista que difícilmente olvidaré. Cargada de detalles, de momentos irrepetibles y de sentimientos y emociones que hacen de este un libro maravilloso.
This was a rare random library selection, and I was SO pleasantly surprised.
Stella's near death experiences worked as a frame story, but were really the least interesting thing about this book.
I love a work of fiction that can effectively give me perspective on what living during a segment of history might have felt like, and....wow. I *knew,* of course, that historical sexism was appalling, but Juliet Grames really drove it home.
Italian-American immigrants during the 1940s were fresh material to me, and despite the weighty subjects, this made me laugh many times.
I loved/identified with Stella's character and her motivations (still in 2019 bristling against not all women wanting the same thing...). Many of the plot points were very upsetting and of course I wanted starkly different outcomes, but I get that a lack of agency was the whole point.
Props to any book that's both fun to read and can make me think.
Last major takeaway: we must be grateful every day for birth control.
Stella's near death experiences worked as a frame story, but were really the least interesting thing about this book.
I love a work of fiction that can effectively give me perspective on what living during a segment of history might have felt like, and....wow. I *knew,* of course, that historical sexism was appalling, but Juliet Grames really drove it home.
Italian-American immigrants during the 1940s were fresh material to me, and despite the weighty subjects, this made me laugh many times.
I loved/identified with Stella's character and her motivations (still in 2019 bristling against not all women wanting the same thing...). Many of the plot points were very upsetting and of course I wanted starkly different outcomes, but I get that a lack of agency was the whole point.
Props to any book that's both fun to read and can make me think.
Last major takeaway: we must be grateful every day for birth control.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I couldn’t put it down
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a sprawling epic of life in an Italian-American immigrant family spread across 100 years & is unusual in that it is a fictionalised account of the author’s own family.
Told entirely from the third person perspective (which I found very hard to emotionally connect with) with occasional modern-day interruptions (which I found jolting and interrupted the reading flow) from the author we follow Stella Fortuna from her childhood in a hilltop village in Rural Italy to her life in America.
As the title suggests a series of near-death experiences occur to Stella throughout her years and the re-telling of these are interspersed with love, bitter feuds and family rivalries along with pasta, Italian curses and superstitions!
Despite the rather attractive cover this book covers some very dark themes and is a clear portrayal of hardships, particularly those endured by women over the years.
It definitely needs trigger warnings: for rape, abuse and incest among others.
Sadly this was not for me but I recognise I am largely in the minority.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes