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lenny9987 's review for:
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
by Juliet Grames
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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
If a title’s job is to grab your attention and make you want to read the book, it’s hard to top a title like The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. And luckily, the description for Juliet Grames’ novel intrigued me enough to give it a read – numerous near-death experiences, a tale of sisterhood and the personal triumphs and conflicts that go along with it, the upheaval of immigrating from Italy to America just as World War II breaks out… I was curious to see how all the promised plotlines would fit together. The answer: it’s a snug fit that creates a portrait of a woman who doesn’t care for the role her family and society have outlined for her and what it does to the human spirit to brush up against those pressures and expectations every day.
Mariastella “Stella” Fortuna has an unusual relationship to life and death. Named for her older sister who died as a toddler, Stella dances with death on numerous occasions throughout her life, starting as a small child at home in a remote Italian village as the nation and Europe recover from the devastation of World War I. Though life in Ievoli is full of hard work – even after their father leaves for the United States to work and, theoretically, send them money – Stella and her younger sister, Cettina work well together and keep an eye on one another. But where Stella and her infamous brushes with death have helped to reinforce that the natural order of things might not be as inflexible as it seems, Cettina is more like their mother, accepting things the way they’re told they’re supposed to be without question or fuss. When the family are summoned by their father to join him in America, the tensions between the Old World ways of life her family values and the possibilities available in their new home rise with Stella at the center of the conflict in many ways.
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-1fy
Mariastella “Stella” Fortuna has an unusual relationship to life and death. Named for her older sister who died as a toddler, Stella dances with death on numerous occasions throughout her life, starting as a small child at home in a remote Italian village as the nation and Europe recover from the devastation of World War I. Though life in Ievoli is full of hard work – even after their father leaves for the United States to work and, theoretically, send them money – Stella and her younger sister, Cettina work well together and keep an eye on one another. But where Stella and her infamous brushes with death have helped to reinforce that the natural order of things might not be as inflexible as it seems, Cettina is more like their mother, accepting things the way they’re told they’re supposed to be without question or fuss. When the family are summoned by their father to join him in America, the tensions between the Old World ways of life her family values and the possibilities available in their new home rise with Stella at the center of the conflict in many ways.
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-1fy
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault