Friday, August 7, 2009

Friday Finds

Been Here a Thousand Years by Mariolina Venezia

Venezia's tale traces five generations of the Falcone family, beginning with Don Francesco Falcone—a rich, powerful, feared and often unsympathetic man—and his mistress, farmworker Concetta, who bears him six daughters before delivering a much-longed-for son. The women form the rich backbone of the story as they strive to overcome their sometimes unbearable circumstances. Through Gioia, a fifth-generation Falcone, Venezia travels among each generation. Sickly as a child, Gioia finds comfort and fascination in the stories of her forebears, then becomes a voracious reader of everything from Dostoyevski to calendars. Her own love of storytelling paints a word-picture of each of the eras of the family as well as the history of Grottole, the Southern Italian town where the story is set. Venezia also neatly weaves an Italian history lesson throughout, from WWI to the excesses of the '80

15 comments:

Leslie said...

aww =) great find!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I love the cute little girl on the cover!

Missy B. said...

I might give that a try...it sounds good! Good Find!

Jo-Jo said...

This does sound quite interesting...and I love that cover!

Cackleberry Homestead said...

This sounds fascinating.

serendipity_viv said...

This does look interesting.

Sandra said...

This sounds like an interesting story, this is the first I have heard of it. Enjoy.

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Sounds like a good book, great cover!

Mishel (P.S. I Love Books) said...

How great is that cover?! Makes me smile. I like the sound of this one, great find!

bermudaonion said...

This is a great find!

Marie Cloutier said...

awesome find!

Icedream said...

Sounds like a great family saga, one I could read on a rainy day with lots of popcorn.

Shonda said...

Sounds like a good find. I think the little girl is so cute!

Staci said...

Sounds like an intriguing read!

Mel u said...

Thanks for posting on this book-I have added it to my Amazon wish list.