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Le Seconde: Inheriting the unspoken: a second-generation immigrant story
When Angelina discovers what has gone unspoken in her parents’ and grandparents’ lives, she is forced to re-evaluate her entire upbringing.
Angelina’s childhood in the far North Queensland cane fields is full of adventure. But it is also turbulent. Her beloved grandfather was an ardent fascist. Her father and grandfather struggle with the ferocious undercurrents of an unspoken past. Her mother, as the dutiful Italian wife, cannot speak about how she feels. Instead, she teaches her young daughter a revolutionary song that she knows will irritate her father-in-law.
As an adult, Angelina must deal with different sets of preconceived notions about who she should be and what she should do as well as the inherited trauma of the second generation. She enters corporate Australia at a time when women’s voices were only starting to be heard. Often, she is the only woman in the room and the only person with Italian heritage.
Choosing between what is expected of her as a woman and what she feels she must do will have consequences.
Through the telling of her own story, Angelina reconstructs her family’s diaspora story from World War II Italy to the cane fields at a time when Australia’s White Australia Policy was still in place. Their fractured history takes her to Mussolini’s rise to power, German occupied Crete, the Gustav line in southern Abruzzo and Adelaide’s Loveday internment camp.
After years of conforming to what she thought it meant to be ‘Australian’, she realises that her identity as a second-generation immigrant woman, one of Le Seconde, is a lot more complex.
Angelina’s childhood in the far North Queensland cane fields is full of adventure. But it is also turbulent. Her beloved grandfather was an ardent fascist. Her father and grandfather struggle with the ferocious undercurrents of an unspoken past. Her mother, as the dutiful Italian wife, cannot speak about how she feels. Instead, she teaches her young daughter a revolutionary song that she knows will irritate her father-in-law.
As an adult, Angelina must deal with different sets of preconceived notions about who she should be and what she should do as well as the inherited trauma of the second generation. She enters corporate Australia at a time when women’s voices were only starting to be heard. Often, she is the only woman in the room and the only person with Italian heritage.
Choosing between what is expected of her as a woman and what she feels she must do will have consequences.
Through the telling of her own story, Angelina reconstructs her family’s diaspora story from World War II Italy to the cane fields at a time when Australia’s White Australia Policy was still in place. Their fractured history takes her to Mussolini’s rise to power, German occupied Crete, the Gustav line in southern Abruzzo and Adelaide’s Loveday internment camp.
After years of conforming to what she thought it meant to be ‘Australian’, she realises that her identity as a second-generation immigrant woman, one of Le Seconde, is a lot more complex.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 23, 2025
Book Review 📚
Le Seconde: Inheriting the Unspoken
By Angelina Mastrippolito
Rating:5/5
Review:
👉 A heartfelt, powerful memoir that explores identity, history, and the silence passed from generation to generation.
👉In Le Seconde, Angelina Mastrippolito brings to light the deeply personal story of growing up as a second-generation Italian-Australian woman. Her childhood in North Queensland's cane fields is filled with both adventure and emotional turbulence, surrounded by a family shaped by trauma, tradition, and the unspoken weight of the past.
👉Through her journey, we witness the complicated bond between her and her family — a fascist grandfather, a reserved father battling inner pain, and a silent yet defiant mother who teaches resistance through lullabies. These stories are more than memories; they are pieces of a fragmented identity struggling to find voice in a society shaped by the White Australia Policy.
👉Angelina’s experiences as one of Le Seconde — caught between two cultures, expectations, and generational wounds — are told with raw honesty and emotional depth. As she navigates corporate spaces often dominated by men and Anglo-Australian norms, she reclaims her story, challenges norms, and embraces her multifaceted heritage.
👉What makes this memoir stand out:
💫 A deeply emotional and introspective narrative
💫 Rich historical insights spanning Mussolini’s Italy to Australia’s internment camps
💫 A moving portrayal of intergenerational trauma, identity, and womanhood
💫 Poetic storytelling that lingers with you long after the final page
👉Le Seconde is more than just a memoir — it’s a reminder of how silence travels across generations, and how speaking one’s truth can be an act of healing. A must-read for anyone who has ever questioned where they belong, or what parts of themselves they’ve been asked to leave behind.
Final Verdict:
A beautifully written, deeply reflective book that blends history, culture, and personal growth. I absolutely recommend this moving memoir to readers who enjoy stories about family, identity, and resilience
Happy reading 😁
Le Seconde: Inheriting the Unspoken
By Angelina Mastrippolito
Rating:5/5
Review:
👉 A heartfelt, powerful memoir that explores identity, history, and the silence passed from generation to generation.
👉In Le Seconde, Angelina Mastrippolito brings to light the deeply personal story of growing up as a second-generation Italian-Australian woman. Her childhood in North Queensland's cane fields is filled with both adventure and emotional turbulence, surrounded by a family shaped by trauma, tradition, and the unspoken weight of the past.
👉Through her journey, we witness the complicated bond between her and her family — a fascist grandfather, a reserved father battling inner pain, and a silent yet defiant mother who teaches resistance through lullabies. These stories are more than memories; they are pieces of a fragmented identity struggling to find voice in a society shaped by the White Australia Policy.
👉Angelina’s experiences as one of Le Seconde — caught between two cultures, expectations, and generational wounds — are told with raw honesty and emotional depth. As she navigates corporate spaces often dominated by men and Anglo-Australian norms, she reclaims her story, challenges norms, and embraces her multifaceted heritage.
👉What makes this memoir stand out:
💫 A deeply emotional and introspective narrative
💫 Rich historical insights spanning Mussolini’s Italy to Australia’s internment camps
💫 A moving portrayal of intergenerational trauma, identity, and womanhood
💫 Poetic storytelling that lingers with you long after the final page
👉Le Seconde is more than just a memoir — it’s a reminder of how silence travels across generations, and how speaking one’s truth can be an act of healing. A must-read for anyone who has ever questioned where they belong, or what parts of themselves they’ve been asked to leave behind.
Final Verdict:
A beautifully written, deeply reflective book that blends history, culture, and personal growth. I absolutely recommend this moving memoir to readers who enjoy stories about family, identity, and resilience
Happy reading 😁
June 19, 2025
This book hit me right in the soul 🇮🇹💔🇦🇺
Le Seconde – Inheriting the Unspoken by Angelina Mastrippolito is an unforgettable memoir that dives deep into identity, heritage, and what it really means to belong.
Angelina’s story is powerful, layered, and so emotionally honest. Growing up in the cane fields of North Queensland with a complicated Italian family legacy — including a fascist grandfather and a silenced mother — she unpacks generations of trauma, silence, and resilience.
This isn’t just a story about immigration — it’s about being a second-generation woman navigating two worlds, two cultures, and a constant tension between tradition and independence. From corporate boardrooms to revolutionary lullabies, Angelina finds her voice in the spaces where it was never meant to exist — and it’s glorious.
The historical depth is incredible too — from Mussolini’s Italy to WWII internment camps in Australia — all woven into one woman’s search for truth. If you’ve ever felt “not quite enough” of anything, this book will speak to you loud and clear.
A beautiful, complex, and necessary read.
Le Seconde – Inheriting the Unspoken by Angelina Mastrippolito is an unforgettable memoir that dives deep into identity, heritage, and what it really means to belong.
Angelina’s story is powerful, layered, and so emotionally honest. Growing up in the cane fields of North Queensland with a complicated Italian family legacy — including a fascist grandfather and a silenced mother — she unpacks generations of trauma, silence, and resilience.
This isn’t just a story about immigration — it’s about being a second-generation woman navigating two worlds, two cultures, and a constant tension between tradition and independence. From corporate boardrooms to revolutionary lullabies, Angelina finds her voice in the spaces where it was never meant to exist — and it’s glorious.
The historical depth is incredible too — from Mussolini’s Italy to WWII internment camps in Australia — all woven into one woman’s search for truth. If you’ve ever felt “not quite enough” of anything, this book will speak to you loud and clear.
A beautiful, complex, and necessary read.
July 31, 2025
Le Seconde is a compelling book. It works on more than one level. It's an authentic portrait of an individual life, of how a girl growing up as a member of the second generation of an Italian migrant family faces her personal challenges. We're drawn into her world and grow with her as she finds her unique way through a difficult childhood and a competitive adult career. It's also a significant contribution to our understanding of Australia's migrant history. The author skilfully weaves into her memoir the backstory of Italian migration, its motivating forces in two world wars and the baggage that these new citizens carried with them and passed on to their children. Despite being born in Australia, the second generation can't easily escape that heritage, for better or for worse. Anyone interested in stories of personal struggle and growth or in Australia's migrant history will be enriched by reading this courageous memoir.
May 22, 2025
This is a beautiful and unusual memoir. It contains an intoxicating combination of Italian diaspora stories in Australia with a childhood in the 1960s in the sugarcane fields of Northern Queensland. Angie writes of the revelations she discovered about her family - and how some of the most major events of the 20th century shaped her family's life. The years of separation that occurred as a result is heartbreaking. Full disclosure - I am also the publisher at Hembury Books, but I loved this book the moment I started reading it.
August 7, 2025
I really enjoyed this book and found it so engaging and easy to read. The author interweaves family stories and her own story so seamlessly and it gives so much insight into the experience of the second generation. I found the book to be so honest and even raw in places, and I learnt so much history about Italy and Australia, and the extent of the White Australia policy that I didn’t know. I’ve found myself reflecting on this book frequently since finishing and feel like I’ve been enriched by the experience.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews