Una lettera ai miei figli: patrimonio di una famiglia Italo Americana

A Memoir
This inspiring story combines personal reflection, family history, and research of Italy’s culture to understand what makes us unique as third and fourth generation Italian Americans. Using one family’s experience, it brings together the northern Italian and Sicilian cultures, explores their similarities and differences, their social and economic influences and family structure, to preserve an Italian heritage common to many including the Italian woman as the heart of the entire ethnic group.

Ancestors breathe life into the pages. Presented in the context of their community, the reader is left with robust images of them as they worked to meet life’s challenges, such as Maria Rosa trying to sustain the family business post World War I. Family letters and documents round out their stories like the Manifesto of Ruffillo who challenges the parish priest to a public debate. Excerpts from interviews, most notably those of Gus, a 102-year-old Northerner, and Giuseppe, a 91-year-old Sicilian, colorfully describe the daily existence of the homeland they left behind and their early days in America.

The Preface, a must read, offers advice for researching a family’s story and the importance of telling our collective stories. Photos and family charts enhance the written word. And the book’s design of an autobiographical Letter offers a unique perspective for sharing the family’s rich legacy.

Written in English and Italian, this book will inspire you to write your own family history!