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A review by spatterson12
The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani
4.0
Why am I also surprised by how much I enjoy historical fiction? I grew up on Dear America books. I need to respect my past more lol
This has been sitting on my shelf for almost two years. I'm trying to focus on reading my borrowed books this year, so when I saw this author mentioned in a random reading group – I took it as a sign it was time.
The Good Left Undone is a thick buddy. I didn't read the synopsis before diving in, so didn't know what was in store. I could've done without the epilogue and it kind of felt a section was an entirely second book, but it worked in the big picture.
Anina is visiting her grandmother Matelda to pick a piece of jewelry from her collection. In making her selection, Anina recognizes how little she knows of her family history and pushes Matelda to share the familial connections with each piece. In doing so, Matelda flashes back to how her mother, Domenica was forced to leave Italy and move to France away from everything and everyone she has ever known. (All because she tried to save a women from becoming pregnant who had serious health concerns.) Domenica is focused on her work as a nurse and cares for some men who forever change her life.
These flashbacks led to how those of Italian descent were treated during World War II in the United Kingdom. It included personal stories of three families affected by the mistreatment of these people and how the men were torn from their families for further evaluation as they were intended to be shipped to Canada, only for an enemy ship to change their course. (This had me googling the SS Arandora Star.) This historical moment forever shapes Domenica's future and eventually returns her to her homeland. Marking this as a spoiler just in case.
I appreciate the growth of Anina's character as she started focused on material goods – forgetting her grandmother's birthday as she wants all the jewels – but ends with her finding a way to serve the family and consider long-term commitments.
This has been sitting on my shelf for almost two years. I'm trying to focus on reading my borrowed books this year, so when I saw this author mentioned in a random reading group – I took it as a sign it was time.
The Good Left Undone is a thick buddy. I didn't read the synopsis before diving in, so didn't know what was in store. I could've done without the epilogue and it kind of felt a section was an entirely second book, but it worked in the big picture.
Anina is visiting her grandmother Matelda to pick a piece of jewelry from her collection. In making her selection, Anina recognizes how little she knows of her family history and pushes Matelda to share the familial connections with each piece. In doing so, Matelda flashes back to how her mother, Domenica was forced to leave Italy and move to France away from everything and everyone she has ever known. (All because she tried to save a women from becoming pregnant who had serious health concerns.) Domenica is focused on her work as a nurse and cares for some men who forever change her life.
These flashbacks led to how those of Italian descent were treated during World War II in the United Kingdom. It included personal stories of three families affected by the mistreatment of these people and how the men were torn from their families for further evaluation as they were intended to be shipped to Canada, only for an enemy ship to change their course. (This had me googling the SS Arandora Star.) This historical moment forever shapes Domenica's future and eventually returns her to her homeland. Marking this as a spoiler just in case.
I appreciate the growth of Anina's character as she started focused on material goods – forgetting her grandmother's birthday as she wants all the jewels – but ends with her finding a way to serve the family and consider long-term commitments.