Overall I enjoyed this book - it was interesting to learn of Stella' s life, although as other reviewers have suggested, it was a little far fetched in places

A interesting read with huger characters. However, I found this a bit too long-winded for me and it is remarkable how many things that Stella survives! Maybe a little far-fetched.
It 's a different read and glad to have read it.

Stubborn Stella survives against the odds

Stella Fortuna is certainly not fortunate in the material sense. An intelligent, beautiful girl, she is born into grinding poverty in an Italian mountain village in the early 20th century, later moving to Connecticut. Her hard-pressed, uneducated mother and domineering peasant father have little time for anything except work (and sex, in her father's case), so she soon learns to become self-reliant, caring for her little sister, Tina. Both sisters live to be over a hundred. Tina tells Stella's story to her niece to set the record straight for the younger generation of their family, who only remember Stella as a demented old lady.

The book is written in a flowing narrative style that makes you want to read on. We learn of the harsh conditions Stella grew up in and how her strong character was moulded by her misfortunes, including her seven or eight near-deaths. These range from being trampled by pigs to surviving a lobotomy. This is a traditional Italian Catholic family where fathers decide who their daughters marry. Her father is shown as more and more monstrous as the book progresses. Her mother, though loving towards her children, has no power against her autocratic husband. Stella decides she will never marry and become worn down by childbirth like her mother. Will she have the stamina to carry this through against family expectations?

Be aware that this book contains scenes of sexual violence towards women and children, part of the rich tapestry of Stella's life. A well-plotted story of a large and varied family with fun and laughter amidst the rigidity of a patriarchal society.

I thought the premise of this book was so intriguing; a family saga about life in an Italian-American immigrant family. It follows Stella Fortuna and her series of near-death experiences over the course of 100 years intertwined with young romance, family rivalries and some magical realism. Overall, it made promises for an interesting read. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

What let this book down for me was the third person perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read many books written from this perspective which I’ve adored. However, the story-telling was lacking. The narration felt distant and cold and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I didn’t once feel immersed in Stella’s word, and rather, I felt like I was merely reading a long string of wretched events.

The darkness of the storyline was relentless. Yes, this is set in War-time Italy, but there wasn’t even a hint of happiness. Eventually, I was simply skimming the pages.

I appreciate the author portraying hardships endured by women such as rape and abuse, which anyone going into this book should be cautious about.

Overall, I'm afraid this wasn't for me. However, don’t let my review alone influence you! Most reviews so far have been positive, some books just aren't for everyone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Very much a story of two halves. In the first Stella is, despite the almost deaths and the hardships of her background, strong, beautiful and the flame around which the moths dance. In the second, her life is very different. It's a quirky, enchanting, sometimes amusing and sometimes depressing, distressing tale that I found impossible to put down. Original and beautifully written. I've recommended far and wide.

I thought I was going to love this, but it just wasn't for me. Couldn't get past the constant depressing darkness of the storyline, just unrelenting.
So this is a really short review. Didn't like it. Didn't finish it.
But, don't let that influence you, there are lots of four and five star reviews of it out there, so this is certainly a book that lots of people love. Just not for me.

I enjoyed this book although it was slow to start it picked up pace and the characters were well drawn and interesting

Mariastella is the first child of Antonio and Assunta, who are raising a family in the Italian village of Ievoli. Mariastella dies as a baby – and the next child is her namesake, Mariastella or Stella.

Stella Fortuna has many escapes from death, bangs to the head, choking, an escape from drowning to name a few. Is she haunted by a jealous sister Mariastella, or plagued by the jealousy of her living sister Tina?

A story of family, Italy and America, immigration, male dominance, and female submission.

I found this an enjoyable read, more compelling the further I read, with well defined characters and believable narrative. Recommended.

I love the quote by Erin Kelly "You don't read this book - you live it" because it is so true, the story wraps around you and consumes you until you feel you're a part of the family.

Without taking copious notes as I read the book, I won't even attempt to mention all the characters in this book. There are many and all with Italian names, they're not names I could recall from memory.

It's a very dark tale pretty much most of the way through. Stella's father Antonio, later referred to as Tony is a bully, his attitude towards women, especially his wife Assunta and Stella is harsh - very. He has no respect for either of them and the culture seemed to be that of ownership. As such, there are some violent and upsetting scenes in the book, therefore perhaps this book might not be for everyone.

The first half of the book starts out in the very early 1900's shortly after the turn of the century and just before the first World War. Assunta is a very young girl living in the mountains of Calabria, Italy and is only 14 when she marries Antonio. There's no romance, its more a marriage of convenience because that's what women do in this small village - marry for financial security and to have children. Unfortunately Antonio doesn't take his responsibilities for Assunta all that seriously and pretty much abandons her to bring up their children alone, living with her mother in a tiny village scraping together a living from the land.

I enjoyed the first half very much. Even though they lived a harsh life and struggled to gather enough food to thrive, compared to the second half of the book the family were at least on the whole relatively free of the control of Antonio.

When Antonio came back from the first World War he only stayed around for a short time before moving on to find work in America. He would pay them a visit a couple of times but only to cause trouble and to leave Assunta pregnant yet again. In the second half he sent visa's for his wife and children to move over to America. By this point Stella was a young woman and despite the fact that she was determined not to marry or to have children, it was the done thing in their culture and her Father would make sure she married whether she wanted to or not.

This is a long family saga with Stella and her sister Tina (Concettina, but that wasn't very American so her Father shortened her name) as the main central characters. Stella had seen so much at such a young age it was little wonder she was determined not to marry and was fearful of having children. I especially enjoyed the way the story was told in a chronological and linear way. There is no jumping back and forth in time. This would have made it difficult to have followed the book as there are so many members of the family, it would have been impossible to keep up with them all, so in this respect there really wasn't a better way to write it.

It was a fascinating story which I really enjoyed. The many near death experiences of Stella made for compelling reading and it often seemed a miracle that she survived them. A story of very strong women, survivors who can certainly prove the adage "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

An excellent book, whose characters I have genuinely missed since I finished it.

A hard, pull no punches, story of life for two small girls growing up in the 1920s Italian mountains and then in 1939 America. You can imagine America through their eyes. They have no English and a very limited Italian vocabulary.

This is an amazing story, slow to start with but a story i would love to read over and over again.

This is an epic saga of an Italian American family, starting from their roots in a poor hillside village. The family and some of the events are quite extraordinary so that one wonders if they are even plausible. The effects of two world wars on everyone are long-lasting. However, the most significant impact comes from the Italian men and their relationships with all women - mothers, wives, daughters and grand-daughters.

At times the story moves along slowly so that it necessary to persevere. Worth reading.

This book was not for me. I struggled to get into the book or engage with the characters in any meaningful way. Others may like it but I gave up.

Stella Fortuna’s name means lucky star ,she doesn’t consider herself to be so and after reading this book neither will you. Her own mother is convinced she’s cursed and Stella believes her dead older sister who name she shares is haunting her. Life is hard for the family who live in abject poverty in the Calabrian hills . Antonio her father leaves for America soon after Stella’s birth ,he returns periodically to abuses his wife and growing family .Various strange life threatening events befall Stella both in Italy and in America where the whole family finally emigrate to on the eve of the war in Europe.
The reader ,and Stella ,hope that life will now improve, but in the tight knit Italian American community the expectations prove the same - women are valued only as wives and mother and as the property of a man . The last part of the novel deals with the reason behind Stella’s hatred of her previously beloved younger sister and is shocking but not particularly surprising given what we’ve learned of their lives so far.
The story is slow to start but soon gathers pace and becomes compelling reading. It is an exploration of the role of women in rural Italy and then in immigrant communities that is dark and bleak in places .

This was a fantastic read- from start to finish.

It reminded me a lot of Marquez's A Hundred Years of Solitude from time to time although the magical realism in this one wasn't as dominant.

This is the story of an Italian American immigrant family through the character Stella Fortuna and her encounters with danger nearly resulting with her death. Starts from a small Italian village in mountains, where Fortuna's struggle to make ends, a poor life in village. Then fate takes them to America in it's complicated ways, I really loved this part where decades of the Italian immigrants lives were explored, how much they worked to make America 'great' and what it took to be a citizen.
Comparisons between the refugee crises and the people fleeing ww2 from Europe to America were spot on...

Some Trigger warnings: The book touches dark and disturbing subjects (rape, incest) from time to time but it doesn't go cringey/graphic and more importantly doesn't victimise the female characters so I did the feel disgusted like I felt in some other books. The style of writing is poetic and names are such an important part of this book- which made me think of A Hundred years of Solitude a lot!

I can go on forever but this is an epic book, could be defined as a lot of things; a family saga, a slice of history, a look at women's struggles in Italian traditions, I have read this over a weekend and literally was lost in the pages. Really enjoyed it, a five star read.

Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars

"This is the story of Mariastella Fortuna the Second, called Stella, formerly of Ievoli, a mountain village of Calabria, Italy, and lately of Connecticut, in the United States of America. Her life stretched over more than a century, and during that life she endured much bad luck and hardship. This is the story how she never died."

After reading the opening paragraph which gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is about, I knew I would enjoy this book. And I was right! Written as a memoir by a descendant of Stella Fortuna, the story centers around Stella and her family. It is a fascinating account of an Italian family adapting to an American way of life in 1940s and beyond. Stella comes from a humble background but is strong willed and stubborn from a very young age which does not fit in well with the traditional Italian patriarchal family structure. Throughout the book I was rooting for Stella to get her ways despite her whole family opposing to her ideas. Stella is also cursed or so does her mother believes as Stella comes near death way too many times throughout her life.

I'm neither Italian or American but still found the topic of the book very interesting. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good read. But I did not feel totally hooked by it. I found a lot of the characters unlikeable and thought the story dragged a bit. Overall though it is an interesting read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I'm afraid this book disappointed me for some reasons. The opening was very interesting, intriguing, but I was quickly let down afterwards.
I guess there's a trend with 7 deaths somehow because there are a few books out there, although not exactly the same. The near death experiences was the core of a memoir written by Maggie O'Farrell, and I loved that book. But of course that was a real life story rather than fiction.
I couldn't get along with the writing in this book first of all, as it was from a third person perspective. And I think it's one of the hardest to pull off. In this case, I didn't think it was successful. It was like a chronological order of events rather than an emotional life story. It felt very distant and cold. Second is, the names were mentioned very frequently, which was disruptive to the reading experience. On one small page, the same name was repeated 5 times. The sentences were also short and felt choppy.
Other main reason is the book is very dark, and it just doesn't change throughout the book. it's bad luck after bacd luck without a break. I understand in Italy, small town, male dominated society, but it didn't change in America as well.
Also, the book was very long for what it tells, so detailed that I had to skim read some pages.
Lastly, trigger warnings for abuse and incest for sensitive readers.
So, I'm afraid it wasn't for me, but I'm sure it will appeal to some readers who has different taste.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for granting a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful writing capturing the essence of life for a women in a male dominated world. Both village Italy and America for migrants are truly atmospheric..The story moves along at a steady pace as we travel through Stella's life. A very good read

I really, really enjoyed this book. It's written in a super engaging style that keeps the story moving and the tone (strangely?) light, given some of the subject matter explored in the story. It immediately got my attention and I loved the experience of reading it.

Thank you, thank you Hodder & Stoughton for the digital ARC of this!

I felt that this book dragged a bit. The writing was slightly clunky in places and it suffered a bit from the need to get enough detail in to make the story realistic. But I enjoyed the descriptions of Italian village life and the story itself is quite remarkable..