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A review by sarahjanemurray
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
5.0
I can’t begin to explain the feelings this book has given me. I feel as if I’ve needed this novel for years, needed it when I was going through my own identity issues and coming of age dramas, and most importantly when I have been living through my own wog experiences like Josie in Sydney, with Sicilian family dramas and secrets that would mess with Josie even a bit more than her own.
The characters in this novel were written so true to the experiences of Italian, more importantly Sicilian, migrants in Sydney. Down to the thorough explanation of ‘talk’ between the community and the stories of proxy brides and working on sugar cane farms, but most importantly about how ‘talk’ controls, shapes, and messes with the lives of families in the Italian diaspora. This novel has given me a greater understanding of my own Nonna and mother and the challenges they’ve been through from my own Josie perspective. I think this story is essential for any Italian Australian to read while they are growing up, even though it was set in the 90s and the communities as they were have changed and evolved with the times, the relevance still has weight and speaks not only to the Italians but also to other migrant communities who have shared similar trials and experiences of culture and identity living in Australia.
The characters in this novel were written so true to the experiences of Italian, more importantly Sicilian, migrants in Sydney. Down to the thorough explanation of ‘talk’ between the community and the stories of proxy brides and working on sugar cane farms, but most importantly about how ‘talk’ controls, shapes, and messes with the lives of families in the Italian diaspora. This novel has given me a greater understanding of my own Nonna and mother and the challenges they’ve been through from my own Josie perspective. I think this story is essential for any Italian Australian to read while they are growing up, even though it was set in the 90s and the communities as they were have changed and evolved with the times, the relevance still has weight and speaks not only to the Italians but also to other migrant communities who have shared similar trials and experiences of culture and identity living in Australia.