ONLY OUR DESTINY
by A.G. Russo
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Pub Date 24 Jun 2020 | Archive Date 17 Aug 2021
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Description
The Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy).
A Southern Italian family struggles to survive World War II.
Up to 85 per cent of Italian Americans have their roots in this region. The story of the Coriello family begins in the fictional fishing village of Punto Roccioso along the Amalfi Coast. Alta Italia (Northern Italy) looks down on their southern countrymen as uneducated peasants.
With limited opportunities available, many southern Italians dream of escaping poverty by leaving the land they love for a better life in America. But like all dreams, hardships, sacrifices, and realities intrude.
Having lived through World War I, the Spanish Flu, the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, and racial laws, Raffaela must raise and feed her ten children without any help from her estranged abusive husband Giuseppe, who refuses to give her money. With the support of her two oldest children, Geno, and Luisa, she struggles to survive. World War II devastates Italy and Italian Americans alike when “Il Duce” joins Hitler’s side, leaving Italians vulnerable at home and the object of hatred abroad.
Young Italians are sent around the world to fight in a war they don’t believe in. At home, Jewish families are under increasing threat.
Yet, Italian men and women rebound to fight the Germans and Italian Fascists with a large and fervent partisan guerilla army.
Meanwhile, in America, Raffaela’s young Uncle Corrado has struggles of his own. He vows to move from the tenements of New York’s Little Italy, build a business, marry, bring over family members, and make good on his version of the American dream.
But America is not so welcoming. Ignorance and prejudice reveal the ugliness of the immigrant experience as numbers of Italian Americans find themselves confined to internment camps during World War II.
Their courage and the ability to survive are a testament to the resilience of the Italian people who left their homeland with little else but a dream and changed America in the process.
Advance Praise
"""Only Our Destiny by A.G. Russo is an incredibly immersive fictional plunge into the human condition, laid bare in stark reality...without doubt a powerful read: one I would put up there with the best I have had the pleasure to experience.""
Steven Robson for Reader's Favorite, 5 Stars
""...A.G. Russo does an outstanding job of bringing all the characters to life...The result is a story that vividly captures not just one key point in Italian history, but the immigrant experience and the roots of change...It is highly recommended reading for those who want in-depth history-based details paired with believable, moving characters' lives.""
D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
This story is absolutely amazing!
Whenever I read historical fiction I get so wrapped up in the lives of the characters that I want to know everything about them. Where they lived, their living conditions, cooking methods used, along with popular food items of the period, clothing styles, education - you name it, I want to know about it. A.G. Russo has excelled in writing a novel that authentically depicts every aspect of the time period. The characters have depth and integrity, and the dialogue is spot on, taking the reader straight back to another time and place. I imagined myself walking amongst the characters as I was reading.
I am truly in awe of ONLY OUR DESTINY by A.G. Russo. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, and those wanting to experience the life and times of a different era. The author manages to cover some serious ground in a seamless, thoughtful read. A well-deserved five stars from me.
Piaras Cionnaoith, Goodreads/Amazon Review"
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9780990710257 |
| PRICE | US$3.99 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Randal W, Reviewer
Thank you for accepting my request for this book. I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, I am unable to download it to my Kindle. Therefore, I am unable to offer a review.
Anna V, Reviewer
Thank you to Netgalley . Enjoyed reading this book, beautiful story of family, love, poverty, hardships and heartbreak. Needed more editing as there was quite a bit of repetition, but lovely story .
Patricia C, Reviewer
I really enjoyed this book. My first husbands family were from Italy and lived there during everything Raffella went through. Minus the ten kids. Can you imagine having 10 kids with a worthless father and going through a pandemic, Mussolini, and WWII? Beautifully told story also of what it was like for Italians immigrating to the United States looking for a better life. This would make a great movie or series.
Desiree S, Reviewer
Only our destiny is a fictional story about a family in a small village on the Amalfi coast beneath Naples (Campania). Raffaela is forced by her father to marry at a very young age with Giuseppe Esposito, a man who turns out to be very cruel and mean. Giuseppe, who turns into the village bully, and a later on one of the worst facists, leaves Raffaela and their 10 children to go and live with his mistress. He refuses to provide anything for his family.
In the mean time Raffaela's uncle has emigrated to the United States where initially, after some hardship, he builds a successful business with some other relations, enabling him to support his niece with some money. However, life of Italian immigrants in the US during the second world War doesn't turn out to be a bed of roses too.
The author paints a vivid image of the lives of this extended family on both sides of the ocean during the fascist period and second world war, both during the period of the axis and after Italy has switched allegiance to the Americans.
It is a heartbreaking story about the atrocities that befell the Italian population during the war, including the hardships of soldiers sent to fight in North Africa, Italian POW's in English camps, Partisan fighting against German soldiers and Italian Blackshirts (fascists) and Italian Jews that have lived there for centuries sent to death camps.
In the mean time on the other side of the ocean hard-working migrants are suddenly seen as traitors and spies, even though their children are fighting (and dying) in the army somewhere on a battlefield in Europe.
Although I think that some characters were a bit flat and could have benefited from a little more background I still think this is a really wonderful book. So I will round up the stars to 5.
I want to thank Netgalley, A.G. Russo and BooksGoSocial for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Dona B, Reviewer
"World War II devastates Italy and Italian Americans alike when “Il Duce” joins Hitler’s side, leaving Italians vulnerable at home and the object of hatred abroad."
And thus is the setting as A. G. Russo gives us insight into the lives of Raffaela, her 10 children, and her estranged, domestically violent husband, Giuseppe in this well written, poignant historical novel. You'll find yourself befriending Raffaela and wanting to help her as she keeps her children safe yet always on the verge of hunger while her belligerent bully of a husband looks up to his mentor, Il Duce, as he fights to keep the town under the strict rules of Hitler.
I loved this character driven novel and found myself entwined in their lives as I read it!
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