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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Stella Fortuna nearly died 7 or 8 times. The best part of the entire book were the descriptions of her near-deaths. I felt bad for Stella that she couldn’t decide how to live her own life, but really none of the characters were very likable. This is really more like a 3.5 rounded up to 4.
This novel focuses on three female members of the Fortuna family, with especial attention to Stella Fortuna. In a small, mountainous village in Calabria, Assunta marries a domineering and abusive man who disappears to America for years at a time, returning only to impregnate his wife. Just as World War II is beginning, Assunta is forced to immigrate to the United States along with her sons and two daughters, Stella and Concettina (Tina).
Assunta’s sad and difficult marriage convinces Stella that she never wants to marry. Spirited and independent, she tries to break free from a patriarchal society in which a woman has no value except as a wife and mother. Of course, life has other things in store for Stella because she ends up having a large family. Though she has several brushes with death, as the title clearly indicates, she lives to be a centenarian. And though Stella and Tina are inseparable for years, the sisters “spend thirty years locked in a blood feud.” All of this is outlined in the preface; the novel provides the details.
The unnamed narrator is one of Stella’s granddaughters. Because of a “cerebral haemorrhage and a lifesaving lobotomy,” Stella spends the last thirty years of her life “demented and resented” so “all the good she did in this world has already been forgotten and buried.” Her granddaughter decides to reconstruct Stella’s “too-strange life” and restore “her besmirched good name.”
It is the character of Stella that steals the show. Though uneducated, she is intelligent. She is skilled and hard-working. “Stella was quick-witted and self-sufficient, not to be trifled with or taken advantage of.” She is beautiful and, though not vain, recognizes that her beauty is a power, “one of the few powers a young woman in a southern Italian village could possibly wield.” Above all, she is tough: “Each bad thing that happened to her only made her more stubborn, more retaliatory, less compromising. Stella allowed for no weakness in herself and she had no tolerance for weakness in others.”
This is not a light read, as indicated in the opening of the novel: Stella “endured much bad luck and hardship.” The narrator, when asking for information about her grandmother is warned, “’Some parts of the story, they no nice.’” The reader also needs to be warned beforehand. The book certainly left me wondering which of my female ancestors were not able to become who they wanted to be because of society’s expectations of women.
And though the book is very much about the past, it is connected to the present: “Over the years of human history, many people have made the choice to get on a boat to go to a strange and hostile place – can you imagine the desperation they must have felt in order to step onto that boat knowing there was a chance they would not reach their destination? Most recently, these people have been emigrants trying to get into Italy, not emigrants trying to leave, and their passage is no easier or safer than that of their antecedents. Thousands of refugees from Syria, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ghana, and Nigeria have died off the coasts of Italy in the last ten years, capsized, drowned, sunk in flames. History marches on, and names and destinations change, but not the injustices we let one another suffer.”
This book is recommended to those who enjoy multi-generational family sagas and/or stories of the immigrant experience.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
Assunta’s sad and difficult marriage convinces Stella that she never wants to marry. Spirited and independent, she tries to break free from a patriarchal society in which a woman has no value except as a wife and mother. Of course, life has other things in store for Stella because she ends up having a large family. Though she has several brushes with death, as the title clearly indicates, she lives to be a centenarian. And though Stella and Tina are inseparable for years, the sisters “spend thirty years locked in a blood feud.” All of this is outlined in the preface; the novel provides the details.
The unnamed narrator is one of Stella’s granddaughters. Because of a “cerebral haemorrhage and a lifesaving lobotomy,” Stella spends the last thirty years of her life “demented and resented” so “all the good she did in this world has already been forgotten and buried.” Her granddaughter decides to reconstruct Stella’s “too-strange life” and restore “her besmirched good name.”
It is the character of Stella that steals the show. Though uneducated, she is intelligent. She is skilled and hard-working. “Stella was quick-witted and self-sufficient, not to be trifled with or taken advantage of.” She is beautiful and, though not vain, recognizes that her beauty is a power, “one of the few powers a young woman in a southern Italian village could possibly wield.” Above all, she is tough: “Each bad thing that happened to her only made her more stubborn, more retaliatory, less compromising. Stella allowed for no weakness in herself and she had no tolerance for weakness in others.”
This is not a light read, as indicated in the opening of the novel: Stella “endured much bad luck and hardship.” The narrator, when asking for information about her grandmother is warned, “’Some parts of the story, they no nice.’” The reader also needs to be warned beforehand. The book certainly left me wondering which of my female ancestors were not able to become who they wanted to be because of society’s expectations of women.
And though the book is very much about the past, it is connected to the present: “Over the years of human history, many people have made the choice to get on a boat to go to a strange and hostile place – can you imagine the desperation they must have felt in order to step onto that boat knowing there was a chance they would not reach their destination? Most recently, these people have been emigrants trying to get into Italy, not emigrants trying to leave, and their passage is no easier or safer than that of their antecedents. Thousands of refugees from Syria, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ghana, and Nigeria have died off the coasts of Italy in the last ten years, capsized, drowned, sunk in flames. History marches on, and names and destinations change, but not the injustices we let one another suffer.”
This book is recommended to those who enjoy multi-generational family sagas and/or stories of the immigrant experience.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is a unique and emotional journey centered around the life (and many near deaths) of Stella Fortuna. Born in a small countryside village in Italy, we watch Stella grow and develop into a beautiful, independent, hardworking young woman. After experiencing trauma at the hands of men in her past, Stella does not want to follow the normal course expected of women like her, and she rebuffs marriage and raising a family.
This was a powerful look at the roles of women and the impact of trauma. The book is full of trigger warnings (child loss, rape, physical and sexual abuse, homophobia, infertility) as the Fortuna family faces countless heartbreaking and challenging situations. Though Stella's life was full of hardship, abuse, and mishaps, it was also full of beauty, love, and family.
This was a powerful look at the roles of women and the impact of trauma. The book is full of trigger warnings (child loss, rape, physical and sexual abuse, homophobia, infertility) as the Fortuna family faces countless heartbreaking and challenging situations. Though Stella's life was full of hardship, abuse, and mishaps, it was also full of beauty, love, and family.
4.5 stars. I truly enjoyed this immigrant story and the author's writing style was beautiful but quite readable. While Stella is not necessarily the most likeable character, you gain an understanding of why she is the way she is throughout the book. The issues that Stella's family encountered as immigrants in the 1940's are not that different than what some of our immigrants experience today. It was also neat to see a large chunk of the book set in Hartford county, as well as how life was in the early 20th century in Calabria, Italy. I would certainly read more by Grames (this is her debut).
So dark. Not one good thing ever happened to Stella
In the author’s defense, she did an excellent job writing this book. Stylistically well done. The subject matter was just too depressing with no redeeming plot points.
I expected this to be more... fantastical? It ended up reading more like a historical fiction and less like some fantasy story in which a woman avoided many outlandish near-death experiences. It was still a good and interesting story, with some parts that were difficult to read.
This book was incredibly special. It beautifully and heartbreakingly captures both a specific woman (actually, a few specific women) and a more generalized experience.
4.5 stars / 5...what a "different" read for me. I really enjoyed it!
I can’t fathom how this book has so many 4 and 5 star ratings. It is SO boring and about nothing. No character development and the plot is weak at best.