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Between the Cracks

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Join Angela Lanza as she experiences the tumultuous world of early 20th century Sicily and New York. Orphaned by the earthquake and powerful eruption of Mt. Etna in 1908, Angela is raised in the strict confines of an Italian convent. Through various twists of fate, she is married to a young Italian man whom she barely knows, then together with her spouse, immigrates to the U.S. This novel is an invitation to accompany the young Angela as she confronts the ephemeral nature of life on this planet and navigates the wide cultural gaps between pre-World War II Italy and the booming prosperity of dynamic young America.

Author, artist, and teacher Carmela Cattuti created Between the Cracks as an homage to her great-aunt, who survived the earthquake and eruption of Mt. Etna and bravely left Sicily to start a new life in America.

324 pages, ebook

First published August 10, 2013

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Carmela Cattuti

3 books150 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for LuAnn.
259 reviews43 followers
February 17, 2015
The 'common' man (or in this case woman) is not usually a subject in literature and movies. We want experiences in entertainment that are thrilling (Red), fantastical (Fantasia) and out of this world (Guardians of the Galaxy). And just for the record, I loved each one of those movies.

Thank goodness Ms. Cattuti has seen fit to buck that trend and show us there is much in the 'ordinary' lie to be celebrated. Between the Cracks is all the more wonderful because it is based on the life of the author's great-aunt. But there's ordinary and then there's ordinary. In the book, Angela is the sole survivor from her immediate family of the earthquake and eruption of the Etna volcano in the early 20th century.

And let's face it. Back in those days, you did not zip across the ocean on the Concorde, or jet to Paris for lunch. People crossed the ocean by boat and it took at least a week. (I know this because apparently my ancestors have been crossing the Atlantic one way or the other for generations.)

Angela is a sympathetic character. She is left alone in the world at a young age, and raised in a convent. When Franco, an American of Sicilian birth, wants a wife, he returns to the old country to find one. And where does one find a virtuous young woman? In a convent. Angela is all the more attractive to Franco because she has no family, and he will not have to worry about her becoming homesick when he brings her to America.

Ms. Cattuti has a fine hand in the choice of her words. Bad things have happened to Angela, but she is not a victim. She shows us that even though our lives may not be played out in the pages and on the covers of checkstand magazines, that each person has a value of their own. I may never have the effect of a Mother Teresa, but I do alright with my own family.

We all live lives capable of falling Between the Cracks, but what we choose to do with our lives can lift us to the extra-ordinary. Wrapping us in the comfort and warmth of a favorite heirloom quilt, Ms. Cattuti's book inspires me to gather more information about my ancestors to add to my family's story.
Profile Image for Megalomaniac.
45 reviews28 followers
May 12, 2020
The premise, at first sight, is a simple one.

Our protagonist, Angela, survives a tragedy that claims her family and begins her life in a convent. Before she can become a fully-realized nun however, she marries a Sicilian immigrant living in America, Franco.
The life is idyllic: her husband makes a lot of money and Angela herself is installed in a house he prepared for her and is quick to find a job she likes. She immediately becomes friends with her sister-in-law, who reminds Angela of her younger sister that she had lost.

However, not everything is as easy as it appears at first glance. Angela is still haunted by the memory of the tragic day when Mount Etna erupted. She’s certain her sister had survived and feels guilty because she’s certain that had she stayed in the convent a little longer, the sisters could have been reunited. After making peace with her past, new problems emerge with the people she loves. Sometimes, Angela’s own wit and determination is enough to overcome the obstacles, but more often than not the bad things happen and Angela has to find inner strength to live through them and help the others as best she can.

Angela is a fascinating character. Living at the time when women did not have much agenda, she is independent and resourceful, bent many times but never broken. Her husband, Franco, is an enjoyable character of his own, but he pales in comparison to his headstrong wife.

I found that I never for a moment did not enjoy Angela. She had not always been as submissive as other people wanted (whether her superiors in the convent or her husband). The side characters are vivid. The beginning of the book is slow but it picks up later and hardly leaves time to pause for breath.

An enjoyable short read about life in Sicily and The United States at the beginning of the 20th century.

My thanks to Three Towers Press and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Andrea.
287 reviews
August 5, 2020
I was attracted to this book because it was based on the author's great-aunts survival of the 1908 eruption of Mt Etna, as I am a huge historical fiction fan.
Angela Lanza is left an orphan and doesn't know whether her sister has lived or died. Angela has a strict but loving upbringing in an orphanage run by nuns. They are instrumental in finding her a husband, Franco who is Italian but lives in the USA? A hard-working man, he made enough money to provide a home for them both in the USA.
We follow Angela as she adjusts to a busy USA having left her homeland on the brink of WW2. Her superior sewing skills, learnt while at the orphanage, help create an income for herself. But tragedies hound Angela and Franco. And all this while, the fate of her sister sits in the back of Angela's mind....is she alive or not? Visions and dreams muddle her thoughts. While bad things happen in her life, Angela is not a victim....she is a survivor. I hoped for the best for Angela throughout the book, but as often in real life, nothing spectacular came and acceptance of your situation in life means you just keep going, dealing with one day at a time.
Carmela Cattuti has written a book of strength, perseverance and acceptance; traits which often are sadly missing in today's fast paced world of instant gratification.

#BetweentheCracksOneWomansJourneyfromSicilytoAmerica #NetGalley
Profile Image for Wendy Hart.
Author 1 book70 followers
January 5, 2025
A great read about a woman of determination and grit. It is structured as a series of vignettes rather than a suspenseful narrative. An enjoyable read about a life well lived.
Profile Image for Janilyn Kocher.
5,100 reviews117 followers
July 8, 2020
This was mostly a depressing story. It began with a young girl losing her family in a Sicilian earthquake. She lives in a convent doing needlework but has the chance to marry a man who had immigrated to the US. While there were some happy times after the marriage, the last half is just has tragedy after tragedy. I appreciate the details and how it's based on a real life story, it was just very depressing to read. Thanks to NetGalley and Three Towers Press for the early read in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Nancy (The Avid Reader).
3,070 reviews128 followers
November 12, 2020
A young girl, Angela Lanza is left an orphan when Mt. Etna erupted causing an earthquake in1908 in Italy. Angela loses her whole family in the quake and sent to live in an orphanage. After the quake, Angela looks for her little sister but never finds her. Angela has always had a doubt that her little sister was dead, choosing to believe that she would find her one day, that they would see each other again.

With losing her family and not knowing anything about life outside the walls of the orphanage, Angela decides that she is going to be a nun but then a young Italian man who lives in America shows up at the orphanage looking for a bride. This young man Franco chooses Angela after laying eyes on her for the first time. He knows right away that Angela is the woman for him.

Angela decides to take Franco up on his offer to be his wife and move to America. One of the nuns suggest that they wait a year before making their final decision to make sure that it is the right choice for Angela. After their year is up Angela marries Franco and off to America they go.

Angela meets Franco’s little sister Speranza and becomes fast friends with her. Angela and Franco play a big part in Speranza’s raising. Speranza teaches Angela english in return Angela makes school clothes for Speranza.

While living in America Angela faces one tragedy after another but she always seemed to pull herself back up after getting knocked down time after time. She is a strong, brave, kind, and loving person who was always helping someone no matter what it cost her.

When I first read the summary for Between the Cracks I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it, not because of what it said. I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure how a story based on truth was written. Was it written as non-fiction or fiction? But the book just wouldn’t let go of me I thought about it for days and then I realized it doesn’t matter how it is written I had to know Angela’s story and about her trip to America. And now? I am so very glad that I chose to read Angela’s story, Between the Cracks, and got to know who Angela was and the kind of person she was.

As I was reading Between the Cracks I could see the whole thing playing out in my head. I saw Angela’s story through the eyes of Carmela Cattuti. I can’t wait to read more about Angela’s life and story in the next book The Ascent!

I highly recommend Between the Cracks to anyone looking for a good book to read. I would recommend Between the Cracks to all Daniel Steel fans. One-click your copy of Between the Cracks today to begin this epic adventure of One Woman's Journey From Sicily to America!
Profile Image for Stanley McShane.
Author 10 books59 followers
April 24, 2020
Having survived the powerful eruption of Mt Etna and the earthquake associated with the catastrophe, Angela Lanza is left with no idea what happened to her family, specifically her sister in this semi-biographical historical fiction novel. Many of the orphans were sent to convents, and as a young girl, Angela found herself in an Italian convent.

Angela's life changes dramatically when she is the chosen bride of an Italian American. Each has their own reasons for the marriage. Speranza, a young half-sister of Franco begins the task of teaching Angela English. An accomplished seamstress, Angela finds work and discovers Franco has been extremely industrious, accomplished in the building trades and saving money. But Franco is rather close-minded when it comes to his family and to his mother's and sister's plans for young Speranza.

Not a marriage borne of love, they do the best they can, getting to know each other in the ensuing years. Angela's dream of children of her own is shattered.

Franco and Angela are beset with problems, their own and his close family. Eventually, following one tragedy after another, the roles are reversed and it is she who must become the stronger of the two, facing down each misfortune after the other, holding the household together and coming to terms with his family's path.

Interesting writing style, somewhat simplistic, often descriptive of her native land and life as well as life in America and Franco's thoughts and motives. Angela certainly struggled with each heart-breaking turn of events that might have broken the back of a weaker willed person. A narrative that has you hoping for the best though realizing there are often, in real life, no fairy-tale endings. Still, the triumph here was in the mindset and strength to go on, overcoming adversity and coming out the other side.

I received this digital download through RABT Book Tours with the expectation of an honest opinion. This in no way influenced my review.

See my full review at https://rosepointpublishing.com/2020/...
16 reviews
November 4, 2024
Being of Sicilian roots, this was a very enjoyable and informative book to read. My mother's family were all born in Villa Frati, Sicily, my mom was the youngest of five children and born in New Jersey. I unfortunately never met her father, who was a farmer and died young, in his 60s. I did know my grandmother for 10 years. She only spoke Sicilian, but we somehow communicated. I didn't know about the Messina earthquake before reading this book. The devastating earthquake occurred on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The epicenter was in the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily from the Italian mainland. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed and between 75,000 and 82,000 people died, making it the deadliest earthquake in the history of Europe. I was also unaware of the extreme poverty of the area. While this was a novel, it had enough history to keep it relevant and interesting. Kudos Carmela Cattuti, I will read more of your books.

Profile Image for Marie  Birkbeck.
32 reviews
February 14, 2025
a soft three

book was so -so -nothing to really write home about.
No plot, per se,
I thought it was poorly written - and even worse editing/proof reading. quite a few grammatical errors
There was really no flow to the 'story' well it really wasn't a story at all, it was more like vignettes of a diary. often several months between chapters, at one point it was 10 years! And the later chapters, I have to assume that the author had to guess what each of the characters was thinking, or dreaming, or seeing in their state of nothingness. I was kind of hoping that somewhere along the line we would find that was a little romance or love between Franco and Angela,
on the plus side it was a story of faith, endurance and coping and dealing with the hand that was dealt, that many of have had to tolerate just to literally survive! I was pleased to see that in the end, thanks to wise words of her husbands cousin Roberto, Angela was able to find peace within herself.

Having said all of this, I do not think I will pick up a copy of the sequels in this series.
Profile Image for Cristie Underwood.
2,270 reviews64 followers
March 18, 2020
The author wrote this novel based on her great-aunt's experiences after the 1908 Mt. Edna earthquake. The main character, Angela, is orphaned after the earthquake and is sent to a convent in Italy to be raised. Angela eventually meets the man she would marry, despite not knowing him well, and moves to the United States. This novel highlighted the strength that it must have taken for Angela to not only survive losing her whole family to tragedy, but to start over in a new Country with a man that she barely knows. This was a great read and I think part of my enjoyment came from knowing that it was based on a true story.
Profile Image for Mariah (Homerun Reads).
211 reviews2 followers
Want to read
November 3, 2024
Content Rating: 🟡 (estimated)

Language: ?
Violence: WWII is brewing, but no reviews reported violence or war scenes.
Sex/Nudity: marriage to a man she barely knows. No sex scenes as far as I can tell.

I haven't read it (yet), but it seems like it's pretty clean.

Find more clean reads here: Homerun Reads (Notion)

Follow me to easily see my content reviews (if available) when you look up books here on Goodreads.
Profile Image for Annette Summerfield.
703 reviews16 followers
July 13, 2025
The middle was slow to me, but the end kept my interest. This is real life. Life, death, difficulties, dealing with impossible people who are thoughtless. Also some kind people, which does mean that they will have a kind life.
This story is continued. I’m going to read the reviews about the next book.
I don’t know about the second book, but I was disappointed that Angela’s light friends were not with her more.
I read the reviews and there are two books that follow this one. This first I found on Amazon for free. I’m moving on now to another one of my free books.
370 reviews3 followers
August 7, 2025
A young Sicilian girl who is in a convent meets Franco who is looking for a wife. Angela agrees to marry him and move to the USA. They help raise his sister Speranza, who ends up married to Salvatore. He has her pregnant all the time, and needs a lot of attention. Angela is unable to have children, and she and Franco do as much as they can for Speranza and her children. The way families hold on to traditions from their “old country” is part of the story. It is a book that is hard to put down.
Profile Image for Valerie Biel.
Author 10 books156 followers
June 3, 2019
A beautiful story following one woman’s life from the tragedy of losing her family to the safety of a convent school in Italy and then to a marriage which takes her across the ocean to her new life in America. We celebrate her triumphs and mourn her losses as she courageously lives her life in the early 20th century. The author skillfully captures the beauty of everyday moments and the strength of her female character scene by lovely scene.
138 reviews6 followers
April 11, 2020
Articulate and descriptive story

This author is astute in story telling. She takes the reader right along with her throughout the story, emotions, and actions. She doesn't hurry through the telling so that you can feel the emotions of the characters and understand their situation thoroughly. Those who like details, thoughtful insight, 20th century period, and emotional stories will love this book. Plus you get a bonus if you like Italian immigrants and wartime struggles.
Profile Image for Rich Bisanz.
142 reviews
May 2, 2020
Well written book about Sicilian immigrants.

I liked this story because I'm many it correlated with my Sicilian grandparents. They came to in America in 1900, from Palermo, with nothing more than their clothes.
The story is about Franco and Angela. He was a very successful carpenter who arranged to marry a girl from the convent in Sicily. It follows their life in America. Great story, please give it a try.
Profile Image for Kalliste.
313 reviews10 followers
March 27, 2022
Somehow I forgot that this book was based on a true story until I finished it. It was an ok read but feels very slow. I was halfway through and it felt like it should be wrapping up but it just kept going with day to day/month to month/year to year happenings and seems to just set up for the next book in the series.

It is interesting to see an account of an every day person struck by tragedy, and how they coped but I felt a lot could have been cut out.
20 reviews
January 1, 2025
Exceptional book.

I found this book immensely interesting and couldn't put it down. Looking at things from this fictional character has left me feeling that I need to be more like this person. Remembering hardships but looking to overcome them with God's help. Excellent book I highly recommend it.


Profile Image for R.K. Emery.
1,257 reviews56 followers
April 29, 2020
This is a powerful, beautiful story and not to be missed. It is not at all necessary to understand the time period to appreciate everything there is to experience in this novel.

I finished the book very quickly, but I will be thinking about the questions raised for a long time to come.
34 reviews
April 14, 2024
Interesting perspective of an Italian immigrant

From Sicily to New York a young destitute woman who makes her way in the 1930s. Slow reading but you soon become immersed in the story. The second book is right behind this one.
74 reviews
November 15, 2024
Poorly written. Needs better editing. Abrupt flow with story. Based on true story so historical interest at times but often repetitive and draged out. I should have stopped reading it but wanted to give it a chance. I will not continue this series.
31 reviews
November 30, 2024
One woman’s journey

The title is appropriate because it was the journey of one of thousands of women. The story was not of much import because so many had the same, or similar experience. I kept waiting for something exceptional to happen and it never did. This was life.
Profile Image for Sharla Elcock.
81 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2025
Good start

The book started well but the story disintegrated into just despair and sadness. At times the plot seemed incomprehensible and unwieldy. The author got lost in the middle of the book. Disappointed, especially since it started well.
17 reviews1 follower
April 14, 2020
A wonderful story

I enjoyed the history intertwined as well as the portrayal of family. Cared about the characters and now I want to read the sequel!
Profile Image for Pamela.
711 reviews
August 4, 2020
Really a good book! Sad, depressing....hopeful and uplifting. A lot of emotions felt. Good read!
112 reviews1 follower
September 17, 2022
The book was well written but had a rather depressing ending.
Everything seemed to go wrong for Angela .
I hope things improve in the next book.
Profile Image for Fara.
454 reviews2 followers
December 29, 2022
I had read this book last year and forgot to log it. Glad that I forgot because I read it again in anticipation to reading the next books in the series. Love the story and the writing!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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