Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows

by Anna Casamento Arrigo

The only mode my thoughts run in, though, is rewind. Never fast-forward and certainly never stopped. Thus the truth is my thoughts and, the facts are my experience, subjective, and still mine." Following the plight of a young Italian girl, Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows, is more than just a memoir; this book explores the relationship between the individual and truth, the effect of the past upon the present, and conflicting representations about love. When Anna and her family leave their homeland due to her father's nebulous business in the United States, she leaves behind crowns weaved from flowers, handmade dresses, and the ubiquitous poverty of the Italian countryside. Once across the Atlantic, Anna realizes that life in America is about possessions; possessing things as well as memories. Blurring the line between an older past in the meadows and villages of Sicily, and a newer past in the concrete streets of New Jersey, Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows explores how a young girl learns the ways of America without letting go of Italy. Blending the imagery of poetry with masterful prose, Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows explores the difficulties of assimilation, the loss of loved ones, and the discovery of the self.

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2013

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this amazing memoir we'll witness the recollections of Anna Casamento Arrigo as a 12-year old, where heartfelt memories are floating from her picturesque home of rural Sorrentini, beneath the wings of Mt Etna, in Sicily, Italy, towards her arrival and settlement within the hard environment of New Jersey, USA.

This is a wonderful telling of a time of innocence, bewilderment and wonder in Sicily, especially with her Nonna, towards a time of uncertain future in New Jersey, where child abuse, hardship, love and death will be Anna's constant companions until her father's death.

This memoir will also tell the story of Anna's father, a man with a vision but also with big secrets, a proud man capable of giving love when needed, but also a iron-hard man capable of arson, gun-fighting and other illegal actions, that will turn him, in my view, as a kind of Godfather within the Italian Family and a dangerous man in the community where everybody makes way for him, right until his death in 1968.

I would also like to mention that especially towards Anna and her direct family prejudice and humiliation is common, and so she's being taunted and making fun of because of her clothing and not able to speak English (American) at first, and being branded as immigrants from Italy.

The writing is raw and emotional, coming straight from the heart, that is brought to us in a most honest and heartrending fashion, and this memoir is completed with an exquisite poem, one that is remarkable and in its beautiful entirety.

Highly recommended, for this little memoir is very touching and it reaches the heart in every possible way, and that's why I want to call this little gem: "A Truly Admirable & Colourful Memoir"!

**A massive thank you to the author for my paperback gift without any obligations, still my review of this book is unbiased and honest in every way!**

[Leonard Tillerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pick up and move to an entirely foreign land?  Gathering up your loved ones and all your earthly possessions in search of a brand new life somewhere else?  Moving to a land with different customs, language, culture... and in many cases, smack dab into a hostile environment.  All of that would be quite intimidating for virtually anybody.  However, for a small seven year old child it would be entirely overwhelming.  In Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows by Anna Casamento Arrigo, a poignant Memoir outlining a personal immigrant experience in America is provided.  Both poetic and beautiful, it is an eminently raw portrayal of a young girl's coming of age in a strange land.

Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows is classified as a Memoir, and it certainly meets all the requirements of that genre.  It explores the many childhood memories and experiences of the author.  As readers, we are able to travel with Anna as she leaves the beautiful countryside and meadows of Italy and arrives at the concrete jungle of New Jersey.  A stranger in a strange land.  We are then able to see how Anna and her family begin to transition to their new home.  Nevertheless, the many experiences which young Anna undergoes are much more than a typical Memoir.  Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows is also a passionate social commentary on topics such as poverty, abuse, grief and the immigrant experience.  All seen through the eyes of an innocent little girl.

There can be little doubt that this Memoir is a very raw account of the author's young life.  It contains physical and sexual exploitation, as well as psychological and emotional abuse.  All of this occurs as the reader is able to see the struggles of new immigrants settling in America firsthand.  It is quite frequently not the land paved with riches for everyone that it is often made out to be.  In many instances, new arrivals struggle with poverty and overall acceptance by others on a daily basis.  Despite all of these heart-wrenching factors, family and love remain at the core of this Memoir.  This is emphasized in an extremely touching manner as we see how Anna copes and comes to terms with the loss of her father.  Heartbreaking and emotionally charged.  We feel her grief, confusion and despair as she reveals all in a very cathartic manner.

Due to the subject matter, this Memoir can be difficult to read at times.  To know a child suffered in the manner she did is hard to accept.  This was alleviated however by the pure beauty of the writing.  It is very poetic in nature and full of imagery which is easily pictured within the mind.  It is presented as a series of experiences and anecdotes which naturally flow into one another.  Not only are we captivated by Anna's own life and growth, but as readers we are also mesmerized by the assortment of vivid descriptions.  In particular, the image of Anna as a child dancing in a meadow in Italy is burned right into my brain.  The juxtaposition of this alongside abuse which is then suffered in New Jersey, is a very strong symbolism for the loss of innocence.  Indeed, the loss of innocence and coming to terms with it in an aura of love and kindness is what this book is truly about.

I would highly recommend this book to all adult readers.  As mentioned, due to the subject matter, there are parts which are difficult to read... but the overall package is poetically beautiful!

5 out of 5 Poetic Stars for this one!  *****

[Eva Pasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic Storytelling at its Finest!

I surmised from the very first page that I would read this entire memoir wearing my heart on my sleeve. Misty-eyed, and at times, weepy, I savored every word, up to and including, Anna’s poem in the epilogue.

I liken the author to those weeds beneath the open meadows she so coveted when she lived in Sorrentini, Sicily before immigrating to America at the age of seven. The span of her candid memoir covers the life of a “wayward” girl from seven to twelve years of age. Although she cites the molestation and abuse of those who stole her innocence, the tedious piece work of sewing linings in collars, and her father’s brutal beatings from his boxer’s hands—the author’s optimism prevails.

“Everything, I believed had a beauty if you looked, believed deeply enough.”

As she reflects upon her father at his funeral, she lovingly recalls those same boxer’s hands that nurtured her when she was ill, along with her trips with him to Jamestown and Fisk Park.

Like persistent weeds beneath an open meadow, the author survives and thrives, excelling in school and going to college as her father had wished.

Her poetic storytelling deftly weaves a beauty of its own, leaving an indelible impression on the reader, while offering inspiration to persevere.

[Mark Carnelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are privileged to be able to see a glimpse into a short period of the childhood of the 12yo author Anna Casamento Arrigo. Here we see almost kaleidoscopic moments and memories of this time regarding innocence and its loss. Wonderment, bewilderment, love, hardship and death. Especially the death of her Father. A giant to her. This imposing figure with boxers hands, that could strike with a slap or gently hold a 12yo hand with care and love. A man with secrets. A man with pride. A man with a vision to take his family from rural Italy to the streets of New Jersey.
Here we have writing that is raw and emotional. A talent in writing and poetry that leaves us mere mortals in awe.
Five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars for this glimpse back in time and an extra ⭐️ for her poem at the end, “When I Die”, which I have read over and over in total admiration and respect.

[Anna Casamento Arrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Written by Red Butler on Amazon)

Red Butler
5.0 out of 5 ⭐️
Lyrical flow sweeps the pain of life away
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2021
Review for Weeds Beneath The Open Meadows by Anna Casamento Arrigo
The key captivation of this lyrical memoir of the author’s childhood remembrance of her father’s life and passing is the ancient but timeless ode to both innocence and aspiration in the life of an immigrant from Sicily. The narrative view is kept in the eyes of this young daughter, mystically stark and honest. It opens in a small town in Sicily where this mostly young family is not long for such a land of simplicity, entrenched traditions, and shadows of organized gangs both feared and respected. It is off to America 1963 for 7 year old Anna and clan. The story has full flavor of infinitesimal detail and colors, though only 108 pages. Flipping back and forth between NY, Jersey and memories of Sicily in concerto, this is a skillful memoir in how our formative experiences become our adult thinking. Many events circle around the center focus of the father’s demise of health, when Anna was only 12 years old. Largely a domestic tale of their new life in the US, still many surprises of endless wonder and derision emerge out of the ancient male conquest and vendetta culture. Life in America is hardscrabble for immigrants, working piecework and laborious assignments. There is also a sexual abuse culture in the neighborhood as young Anna falls prey to more than one incident. It makes for a shocker as the reader scratches their head for answers to why this goes on. There are theories endless for the reader. There is also parental corporeal punishment abuse, and other off handed actions that stun the senses. Yet the child in Anna still loves her dad. This is an enormous tale of ‘who is without sin?’ Many of us were raised by conflicted parents that gave love the way they knew best, all the while somewhat eaten alive by the parts and passions of existence within them that often come without instructions, or if instructions are found, misinterpreted. There is a lovely ending poem of early wisdom written by Anna after her father’s funeral offering foreshadow of the real adult soul that lives in continued forgiveness. Incredible, we forgive this misguided life as it occurs. Even better is the epilogue that tells of life post father that simply brings the tears for perfect resolution of placement by the writer. Completely beautiful work, and the detail and descriptiveness of memory is awe-inspiring. As in this story, I tell people to take the good parts of your parents and let the rest go…and then the freedom dance of forever endures in mercy and joy.

[Susan Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good memoirs are well-crafted with specific reminiscences described in not necessarily elaborate, but always carefully chosen language. You feel like you’re across a table from the writer as they tell their tale. This one goes beyond satisfying those requirements by Arrigo’s special adeptness at weaving strands: One strand deals with the complexities of feeling that twelve year-old Anna has for her dying father – a father who had been both physically abusive yet at other times loving. Her family had a difficult time assimilating to life in New Jersey following their move from Sicily: “The streets of America are paved with gold and money, the villagers had said, but they were mistaken.” Another well-woven strand includes Anna’s memories of her early childhood in Sicily with descriptions of her beloved grandmother and other family members, not to mention her father’s cuisine which included tasty eggplant, and less than appetizing goat’s head (including eyeball and brain).

Anna’s sweeter recollections of Sicily (the flower crowns and handmade dresses) gave her the strength to deal with a life that was often hard to endure. She wondered if her dying father was able to go to an ‘imaginary spot’ like she had so many times when she was “tied to the faded flower chair.” She had gone to that spot in order to withstand the cruelty of his physical punishments. Arrigo’s narrative delivers a powerful punch when she writes how clearly upset she is by her father’s suffering at the end of his life. After all, “it was also those boxer’s hands that nurtured me when I was ill.” The memoir ends with a moving poem, in which Arrigo writes: “I will not hold in judgment those seeking only my survival when/I yearned and sought to live instead.” Not only is Anna Casamento Arrigo a wonderful writer, she is a survivor!

[Jess Frankel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm no stranger to Ms. Casamento Arrigo's work, and with this memoir, we witness the old meeting the new--Italy and the New World (America) respectively, the good times and the bad, the images of birth, pain, death, and remembrance, and the loss of innocence.

The author doesn't skimp on the details, presents them honestly, and we are given a portrait of a young girl growing up in the US, adapting to a strange new life, and coming to grips with her past. Written simply, honestly, and openly, 'Weeds' provides a window on the life of an immigrant, a life they led, and a life they might have led had things been different.

Highly recommended.

[David Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A move from the countryside in Sorrentini, Sicily to the streets of New Jersey in the 1960’s would be cultural shock enough for anyone. Place a seven-year-old girl there- still learning the ins and outs of her own world and cast her abruptly into another? I can’t imagine…but I don’t have to. The fact is author Anna Casamento Arrigo has described it in such a way I felt as if I sat across the table from her, perhaps having a cup of coffee. There’s that sort of intimacy in her writing, made real by the honesty (and bravery) shown in her account. Do you think you’ve been desensitized to the injustices of our modern world? Guess again. There are moments in this story when I needed to close the book for a moment to compose myself—as what’s worse than hurting a child? Innocence is lost—even when it’s stolen, but the author shows a virtue that grows even stronger.
The main character in this memoir is Anna, of course. Her story “Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows” follows her interpersonal and familial relationships, her assimilation into American culture, her own childhood abuse and finally- having to deal with the death of her father.
The tragedies and wrongs Anna faces in this memoir would break most people’s spirit and permanently stain their souls. But this isn’t a story of victimhood, but rather an expose of the human spirit on a journey to endure and overcome. I feel richer having read this very personal tale and I’d recommend it to anyone as a must read.

[Bibiana Krall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weeds Beneath The Open Meadows is a visceral, and sometimes raw look at the immigrant experience in America, but it also holds a poignant beauty that I very much appreciated.

Anna, a girl of seven who grew up in a pastoral village in Sicily has come to ‘The land paved in Gold’ in the 60s, to become a citizen due to choices her father has made.

Her family struggles with finding their place in New Jersey, a world that is foreign and not always kind to strangers.

The memoir is subtly novelized with beautiful imagery and anecdotes, which only enhances the memories that arrive naturally. It feels as if the reader is sitting in a garden and Anna is sharing her story with us for the very first time.

Innocence is lost after she is taken advantage of by sexual predators and she is still learning to speak English. Still a little girl, who most likely was targeted because the cretins sensed that she didn’t understand or know how to fight back.

She remembers these moments in snippets with a stupor of shock and disbelief, as she is now an adult looking back. Trying her best to decipher events that no one should ever have to understand.

“A season of escapades, charades, tirades, untruths, and everything in between. When a journey, like all journeys, means goodbye.”

Her parents are old fashioned and their age difference is startling. Her mother is in her twenties with three children, Sal, Anna and Pippo and her father is in his 70s.

Anna longs for a sister and a companion. In many ways she is an outcast in America, because she talks differently, and sees the world through the poetic lens of a girl who once lived in the shadow of Mt. Etna with a lovely and sweet Nonna who had a milking goat and made her own cheese.

A girl who is trying her best to find comfort however she can. This is not to say she isn’t loved. She is, but it’s the kind that’s a bit more elusive and gruff, a time capsule rendering of days when men were distinctly manly and women listened to their husbands without any expectation of change. A time also when men openly had mistresses and made children with them, and these men came and went whenever they wanted and their women did not cry.

“The smell that filled your nostrils long after you had left the store; a mixture of new glue, old glue, and crooked, twisted dead cigars and old men and secrets.” A time where young Anna helped make extra money by sewing fur collars for the fashion industry with her mother to help the household.

This memoir is indeed about struggle, but it also about love, hope and the will to carry on after life changes again when an important person passes on. It became an ode to the old country, and a love note to a father that shared his cooking skills and a look behind the curtain into Sicilian life.

So many times as I read this, I remembered stories from my grandmother Katherine. Tales of her experience as a seven-year-old immigrant girl from Poland. The aching resemblances were striking, beyond the different cultures, as to how tough it was to come to a new place and people like Anna’s family and how the pieces came together filtered through.

There were a few passages that hit me hard. I have added them below and I hope that you take the time to read this memoir. It helped me understand things I wouldn’t ever know without stories and memoirs like this one.

“But, honestly, all I could do, all I could remember, was the statue; a beautiful bronze statue of an angel watching, perhaps guarding, the angels within. I was such an optimist, I suppose. Everything, I believed had a beauty if you looked, believed deeply enough.”

“Funny, how we all come to our own truths as we sit and wait.”

“With his dancer feet on the top of mountain, beneath Mt. Etna, on the plateau that overlooked the tranquil blue velvet waters of Marina di Patti.”

“I will not yearn another second in the existence of that translucent Solitude.”

[Ivy Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is this memoir about a journey from a beautiful land to one of stark reality- It is.
Is this book about the assimilation of a little girl into a country and a culture that she knew nothing about - It is
But most of all, this book in my eyes is an ode to a father, a little girl had mixed feelings about. A father- so harsh, brutal and insensitive at times that my heart aches for the little girl in the story. But the author has a large heart indeed and a tremendous capacity to love and forgive because despite the vitriol she received, despite the child abuse she was subjected to due to a father too blind to see, this girl- woman sees the best of him and loves and cherishes her father for all the good memories in their lives- the cooking, the gardening , the home work.
Reading this book I was struck by the fact that the author must be a truly dauntless soul to go through so much, bravely survive the passing of her father and turn her life around so beautifully.
For the ache of reality, the sweetness of a time gone by, and a glimpse into the life of an immigrant child clinging to her maternal roots but thrown into the strident and tyrannical reality of a new life, read Weeds Beneath The Open Meadows.
Anna Casamento Arrigo very clearly used to be a child of the meadows-wild and carefree but she beautifully learned to adjust to the fact that sometimes in the open meadows you also find weeds. May she always be a radiant and thriving child-woman.

[Sharon Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

Ms. Arrigo has been through a lot of pain.in her growing -up years. The devoted love of an abusive parent, the wrenching of leaving the home land of her childhood, the deaths of her father and her beloved nonna, (her grandmother). All events making her the strong woman she has become.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a Best of the Best for the month of August, 2019, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet. You can find me at http://forums.delphiforums.com/stevo1, on my Stevo's Novel Ideas Amazon Influencer page (https://www.amazon.com/shop/stevo4747) or search for me on Google for many more reviews and recommendations.

[Taggart Rehnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casamento-Arrigo speaks forcefully in whisper quiet tones, reliving her childhood struggles, in the true voice of an Italian-American girl of twelve, with unmistakable authenticity, even when desperately seeking to find good in others. Her titanic effort to hold on to a simpler life in Sicily, communing with nature, a life of family and friends, of rustic yet familiar surroundings, full of natural beauty, of sun, of sea, of fresh Mediterranean fare and camaraderie, but also of guns, and superstition, and village gossips, and brutal choices; her pain, when leaving that life behind; her days, both in Sicily and New Jersey, always surrounded by chauvinism and corporal violence, stoically enduring, and learning, and fighting back—they are all there, laid bare, yet carefully avoiding gratuitous melodrama. The author vividly recreates the soul-tearing experience of countless immigrants, bereft of a past that always seems to improve as it recedes, confused by a present of transition and new threats, yet hopeful the future may bring new roots, new joys, new beginnings. Overall, a most enjoyable, if raw memoir, full of catharsis, empathy, determination, and hope.

[Kelly Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows,” by Anna Casamento-Arrigo, is a raw, poignant, lyrical, and compelling memoir of the author's childhood. (This was a difficult book to read; there are trigger warnings for sexual abuse and child-beating.) The dominant most colorful figure in Anna’s life, her father was a powerful and charismatic man, a brute as times and a nurturer at others. He was also a womanizer. But Anna, as children tend to do, and although she feared her father, also fiercely loved him. Anna’s family immigrated from Italy to New Jersey USA in the 1960’s. And young Anna often served as interpreter for her mother, who had clung to the traditions of their homeland and did not learn English. Ultimately, this story highlights the indomitable spirit of young Anna, who adapts to her surroundings and learns to thrive despite the many hardships she faces.

[H.M. Holten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between Open Medows and Confining Towns

A stream-of-consciousness memoir, haunting and beautiful. Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows takes the reader on a journey from flowers and embroidered dresses to stone desserts in American towns.

Anna Casamento Arrigo explores the difficulties of a language you hardly understand and cannot speak, the differences in rural and urban societies, and the ways people adjust to a life different from everything known.

Possessions or community feeling, violence in various guises, and unending love. These are the elements of a touching confession that will consume the reader long after closing the book.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna's story beautifully explores the contrast between the simplicity of rural Italy and the materialism of America. The book skillfully weaves together elements of memory, love, and the struggle for identity, creating a captivating narrative that resonates with both heart and soul. They handle their sick dad and his passing in a heart-wrenching and emotional way. The blend of poetic imagery and masterful prose makes this memoir a compelling exploration of assimilation, loss, and self-discovery

[Beth Hildenbrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weeds grow strong and beautiful

In Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows Anna Casamento Arrigo gave us a window into her childhood. As I read this book a phrase kept running through my mind. "Life is a test of the metal your made of." I would say Anna's early years forged her into steel. Yet she found humor in drinking baking said and beauty in sharing an ice cream cone. I was moved to laughter and tears while reading Anna's story. I absolutely recommend you take the time to read it for yourself.

[Josephine Wrightson · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow!

Wow! This was an evocative, often heartbreaking read. A memoir with grief, angst and power. Following, Anna and her family from her birthplace to the USA as an immigrant in the 1960’s. From her immediate family to her extended one. And her heartbreaking experiences. Complicated, tragic and heartfelt. Life written in a brilliant fascinating style, Anna’s story will stay with me for some time. She is an amazing strong woman, and her memoirs only prove it.

[Barbara Daniels Dena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows

While reading this novella by Anna Casamento Arrigo, I felt myself drawn into every scene and feeling every emotion written in the prose. This story is not one to rush through but one to ponder over, possibly switching places and questioning What would I have done in her place?"

[Lindsay Kinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher.
It is a poignant memoir, recording a difficult and different time in recent history. The author’s story is told with grit and beauty.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a young girl's life in poverty in America. The story shared harsh and sad experiences by Anna. Memories of Italy is also shared in this story.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads giveaway winner. Life and times of family in Italy were different. I did like how the Author draws one into the struggles and the survival of this family.

[Anna Casamento Arrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows by Anna Casamento Arrigo is the story of a girl forced to leave everything she ever knew behind and start her life anew. Anna was a 7-year-old girl when her parents moved to the USA and changed her life forever. She knows nothing about this country, she doesn’t understand their language and she definitely doesn’t understand their culture. She was used to lush lands and community, but here everyone seems to run after material comforts. There are predators everywhere, problems gravitate towards young Anna and she has no way to protect herself in this strange land. Loss of innocence is very costly, especially considering her current life. Can Anna grow out of the hurt that she is going through? What will her life be now that she feels all alone and isolated from everything she ever loved?

I ached for Anna when I read Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows by Anna Casamento Arrigo. I cannot imagine how she went through all this and still found the strength to move forward with her life. While her family was struggling to make it in New Jersey, Anna was all alone in a strange city among strange people. There were moments when I had to put the book down and stop reading, sometimes it got too much and I just didn’t want Anna to hurt that much. The way the author tells her story is deeply personal. It was like sitting with a friend and hearing her pour her heart out. I loved Anna, I adored her and I wanted the best for her. This is a gritty, raw story of a young girl as she tried to make sense of the scary world around her. This heartfelt book is beautiful in its sadness and the little light of happiness that Anna receives from time to time. You will fall in love with Anna and you will want the best for her! (RT)

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.