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Grasso Family Trilogy #3
說不出口的愛
葛拉索夫婦是五〇年代來到美國的義大利移民，他們在紐約定居，開了個小餐館。半個世紀以來他們未曾回到家鄉——義大利的西西里亞。如今他們有了兒女，甚至當了爺爺奶奶，餐廳生意也經營有成。轉眼已白髮的瑪德萊娜只能將自己對故鄉家人的思念深埋在心底。她再也沒見過她的雙親和兄姊，以及她在義大利所熟悉、鍾愛的一切。
葛拉索家的大女兒普麗瑪，眼看雙親逐漸老邁，決定要帶上父母、弟弟和丈夫孩子，整家子人一起來一趟義大利返鄉之旅，也讓媽媽瑪德萊娜與家鄉兄姐久別重逢，不留遺憾。沒想到動員狀況百出，向來報喜不報憂的家人們，各自藉此發洩長久以來的不滿。小餐館看似踏實成功，背後卻有種種辛酸，包含一椿過去發生的悲劇。一趟旅行掀開了各人不順遂的境遇，葛拉索一家幾乎決裂……
唯有普麗瑪始終堅信返鄉之旅將是勢在必行的唯一出路。最後，這趟落葉歸根的旅行，讓他們各自找到生命的解答。出乎意料的是，當瑪德萊娜打開這扇通往舊時光的門扉，一道在老奶奶心上久未癒合的傷痕，找到了答案。每個人都哭泣了，因為瑪德萊娜，葛拉索一家找到關於光陰、家庭與愛的恆久恩慈，也找到旅行的意義……
葛拉索家的大女兒普麗瑪，眼看雙親逐漸老邁，決定要帶上父母、弟弟和丈夫孩子，整家子人一起來一趟義大利返鄉之旅，也讓媽媽瑪德萊娜與家鄉兄姐久別重逢，不留遺憾。沒想到動員狀況百出，向來報喜不報憂的家人們，各自藉此發洩長久以來的不滿。小餐館看似踏實成功，背後卻有種種辛酸，包含一椿過去發生的悲劇。一趟旅行掀開了各人不順遂的境遇，葛拉索一家幾乎決裂……
唯有普麗瑪始終堅信返鄉之旅將是勢在必行的唯一出路。最後，這趟落葉歸根的旅行，讓他們各自找到生命的解答。出乎意料的是，當瑪德萊娜打開這扇通往舊時光的門扉，一道在老奶奶心上久未癒合的傷痕，找到了答案。每個人都哭泣了，因為瑪德萊娜，葛拉索一家找到關於光陰、家庭與愛的恆久恩慈，也找到旅行的意義……
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 5, 2013
97 people are currently reading
1033 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Castellani
12 books319 followersChristopher Castellani is the author of five books, most recently the novel Leading Men, for which he received Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Leading Men was published by Viking Penguin, and is currently being adapted for film by Peter Spears (Oscar-winning producer of Nomadland) and Searchlight Pictures.
The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story, a collection of essays on point of view in fiction, was published in 2016 by Graywolf Press, and is taught in many creative writing workshops.
His first novel, A Kiss from Maddalena (Algonquin, 2003) won the Massachusetts Book Award; its follow-up, The Saint of Lost Things (Algonquin, 2005), was a BookSense (IndieBound) Notable Book; the final novel in the trilogy, All This Talk of Love (Algonquin, 2013), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Literary Award.
Christopher is currently on the faculty and academic board of the Warren Wilson MFA program and the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Since 2019, he has chaired the Writing Panel at YoungArts, aka the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists. For nearly twenty years, Christopher was in executive leadership at GrubStreet, where he founded the Muse and the Marketplace national literary conference and led the development of numerous artistic programs for adults, teens, and seniors. In 2015, he was awarded the Barnes and Noble/Poets & Writers “Writer for Writers” Award in recognition of his contributions to the literary community and his generosity toward fellow writers.
The son of Italian immigrants, Christopher’s work often centers the Italian, Italian-American, and queer experience. He was educated at Swarthmore College, received his Masters in English Literature from Tufts University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University. A native of Wilmington, DE, he now lives in Boston and Provincetown, MA, where he is completing his fifth novel, Last Seen , with the support of a 2024 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Last Seen will be published in February 2026 by Viking Penguin.
The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story, a collection of essays on point of view in fiction, was published in 2016 by Graywolf Press, and is taught in many creative writing workshops.
His first novel, A Kiss from Maddalena (Algonquin, 2003) won the Massachusetts Book Award; its follow-up, The Saint of Lost Things (Algonquin, 2005), was a BookSense (IndieBound) Notable Book; the final novel in the trilogy, All This Talk of Love (Algonquin, 2013), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Literary Award.
Christopher is currently on the faculty and academic board of the Warren Wilson MFA program and the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Since 2019, he has chaired the Writing Panel at YoungArts, aka the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists. For nearly twenty years, Christopher was in executive leadership at GrubStreet, where he founded the Muse and the Marketplace national literary conference and led the development of numerous artistic programs for adults, teens, and seniors. In 2015, he was awarded the Barnes and Noble/Poets & Writers “Writer for Writers” Award in recognition of his contributions to the literary community and his generosity toward fellow writers.
The son of Italian immigrants, Christopher’s work often centers the Italian, Italian-American, and queer experience. He was educated at Swarthmore College, received his Masters in English Literature from Tufts University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University. A native of Wilmington, DE, he now lives in Boston and Provincetown, MA, where he is completing his fifth novel, Last Seen , with the support of a 2024 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Last Seen will be published in February 2026 by Viking Penguin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
July 2, 2020
For me, this book was a bit of a "sleeper" in that I got involved and interested far into the book. It's sweet. It tells the story of Italian immigrants. To me, it's also a drama of a family, immigrant or not. The mother of the clan married a man she didn't love/lust. She followed him to America. He was a good man, provided her with everything. He started a thriving restaurant with his brother. They had children, one dies. So they have another one. It's a story of a family, of sadness, of loss, of love, of commitment. The oldest daughter, Prima, provides the most interesting character. She wants to be the best Mom, the best friend, the perfect wife/Mom/daughter and it backfires. The youngest son, is a kid who's in college forever, never seeming to complete his dissertation. Castellani does a good job with character development. It's a saga.
February 21, 2013
Full disclosure: I'm a friend of Christopher's, though despite our once attending a second-tier university we both have fabulous careers now; mine consists of critiquing literature professionally, so if I didn't like my friend's book, I wouldn't include it on my Goodreads list.
I loved A Kiss from Maddalena and liked The Saint of Lost Things, but All This Talk of Love is even better. It was a tough assignment, talking of love without getting sentimental, but this book manages to pull it off, showing the push and the pull, the bitter and the sweet, of family life and romantic relationships. And, as well, I found it to be culturally-specific and universal at the same time in this: I could relate to Frankie's family, but I could also relate to the jokes about how the Irish do their own bittersweet push-pull (inadequately, according to the characters). I also loved that Chris illuminated the experience of being a child to parents who lost a child, which I haven't seen explored in literature much.
I was thinking of Oscar Wilde's dictum that "Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them" as I read and as I write this review. More pedantically, I loved the free indirect discourse; each character's narration was imbued by their consciousness in subtly poetic and psychologically astute ways. I'm looking forward to re-reading this one.
I loved A Kiss from Maddalena and liked The Saint of Lost Things, but All This Talk of Love is even better. It was a tough assignment, talking of love without getting sentimental, but this book manages to pull it off, showing the push and the pull, the bitter and the sweet, of family life and romantic relationships. And, as well, I found it to be culturally-specific and universal at the same time in this: I could relate to Frankie's family, but I could also relate to the jokes about how the Irish do their own bittersweet push-pull (inadequately, according to the characters). I also loved that Chris illuminated the experience of being a child to parents who lost a child, which I haven't seen explored in literature much.
I was thinking of Oscar Wilde's dictum that "Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them" as I read and as I write this review. More pedantically, I loved the free indirect discourse; each character's narration was imbued by their consciousness in subtly poetic and psychologically astute ways. I'm looking forward to re-reading this one.
July 26, 2013
I am someone who sticks bits of paper in pages as I read so I can go back and reread passages, possibly to record words or ideas at the end. While reading “All This Talk of Love,” I could not stop to rip up my scraps of paper; that would have been too much of an interruption.
The opening pages, my introduction to the Grasso family, pulled me right into the mother and father’s corner, Maddalena and Antonio. A mother who speaks to her son in graduate school in Boston every night at 11:01 about their shared love of a favorite soap opera and the details of their family, which is another soap opera…a mother who talks to her own mother every day after Mass, writing letters to her once a month about what happened to the family, even though she has been dead for twenty years…a father who is devoted to his wife’s care and happiness, protecting his family and his beloved restaurant.
This is Castellani’s third book about the Grasso family (and I have not read the previous two, which focus on the parents’ lives in Italy in the 1940’s, their immigration to the United States after World War II, establishing a restaurant, raising a family, and dealing with loss.) Maddalena survives the losses in her life through compartmentalization …“It’s the only way a person can survive”…labeled unhealthy by her son, Frankie. Antonio, burdened by his memories, well guarded secrets, pretends to his family he is happy…“After a certain age, you are no use to the world.”… “He took nostalgia’s hand, and it pulled him under…the grief held him there.”
The lives of Maddalena and Antonio’s son and daughter, Frankie and Prima, and late son, Tony, are a big part of this novel, filled with dreams and longing, and sometimes, terrible decisions and despair, and always, secrets. Frankie and Prima are every one of us, so busy caught up in our own lives, moving so fast, that we sweep the wisdom that comes with age and experience aside.
What holds this family in place and keeps them together is their love, which some don’t understand until novel’s end; Maddalena believes love is quite simple because it is so different; some love emanates for certain people from one’s heart, one’s brain, or one’s soul. The last chapter, “Miracles,” finds the entire family back in St. Cecilia, their small village in Italy, connecting them to the family Maddalena and Antonio left behind. Castellani weaves the stories of the surviving family members to Maddalena’s challenges with dementia to Antonio’s devotion (“It was always Maddalena”) to the epiphany in understanding of the adult children. This last chapter, which I sobbed through, was a tribute to love, family, memories that can’t be tampered with, and inevitable loss.
The opening pages, my introduction to the Grasso family, pulled me right into the mother and father’s corner, Maddalena and Antonio. A mother who speaks to her son in graduate school in Boston every night at 11:01 about their shared love of a favorite soap opera and the details of their family, which is another soap opera…a mother who talks to her own mother every day after Mass, writing letters to her once a month about what happened to the family, even though she has been dead for twenty years…a father who is devoted to his wife’s care and happiness, protecting his family and his beloved restaurant.
This is Castellani’s third book about the Grasso family (and I have not read the previous two, which focus on the parents’ lives in Italy in the 1940’s, their immigration to the United States after World War II, establishing a restaurant, raising a family, and dealing with loss.) Maddalena survives the losses in her life through compartmentalization …“It’s the only way a person can survive”…labeled unhealthy by her son, Frankie. Antonio, burdened by his memories, well guarded secrets, pretends to his family he is happy…“After a certain age, you are no use to the world.”… “He took nostalgia’s hand, and it pulled him under…the grief held him there.”
The lives of Maddalena and Antonio’s son and daughter, Frankie and Prima, and late son, Tony, are a big part of this novel, filled with dreams and longing, and sometimes, terrible decisions and despair, and always, secrets. Frankie and Prima are every one of us, so busy caught up in our own lives, moving so fast, that we sweep the wisdom that comes with age and experience aside.
What holds this family in place and keeps them together is their love, which some don’t understand until novel’s end; Maddalena believes love is quite simple because it is so different; some love emanates for certain people from one’s heart, one’s brain, or one’s soul. The last chapter, “Miracles,” finds the entire family back in St. Cecilia, their small village in Italy, connecting them to the family Maddalena and Antonio left behind. Castellani weaves the stories of the surviving family members to Maddalena’s challenges with dementia to Antonio’s devotion (“It was always Maddalena”) to the epiphany in understanding of the adult children. This last chapter, which I sobbed through, was a tribute to love, family, memories that can’t be tampered with, and inevitable loss.
August 9, 2015
Maddalena years in Santa Cecila Italy is filled with hurt and painful memories.Leaving her hometown behind her after marrying was the best decision that she ever made. Antonio, her husband feels the same way, thinking that it was best that they leave the past behind them and restart their future. It has been over a decade since the last time they been home and they plan to keep it that way. Frankie a dear child of the couple, is an introverted shy man that prefers to books than to party with strangers. While his sister Prima is the complete opposite, he would not dare to change to make her feel better. Prima and the rest of her family worries about Frankie's mental state,cause he is unlike the rest of them. As he spend countless of times in the library working on his third degree his mother longs for the son she groomed.
Growing up, Frankie was a mommy's boy who often showed the world how special she was to him. Although Maddalena knows that a child has to grow up, she still thinks that her son is keeping things from her. Often he does not return her phone calls, thus she becomes obsessed with being in his social life. Prima who has kids on her own has always been in the center of their success. After she makes the shocking announcement that she wants to reunite everyone together in Italy, their family grows more distant. Apprehensive about returning to a place where there are many tings that Maddalene and Antonio will rather forget.
I enjoyed this book,it was very sentimental and provoking. Frankie was a lot like me as far as personality wise, he had his life all planned out. Maddalenr was slightly annoying to me with her overbearing nature but she warmed to me at the end. In addition, Prima was a likeable attached character that reminds me of my siblings.
Delightful and fun read, looking forward to reading more of Castellani work!
Growing up, Frankie was a mommy's boy who often showed the world how special she was to him. Although Maddalena knows that a child has to grow up, she still thinks that her son is keeping things from her. Often he does not return her phone calls, thus she becomes obsessed with being in his social life. Prima who has kids on her own has always been in the center of their success. After she makes the shocking announcement that she wants to reunite everyone together in Italy, their family grows more distant. Apprehensive about returning to a place where there are many tings that Maddalene and Antonio will rather forget.
I enjoyed this book,it was very sentimental and provoking. Frankie was a lot like me as far as personality wise, he had his life all planned out. Maddalenr was slightly annoying to me with her overbearing nature but she warmed to me at the end. In addition, Prima was a likeable attached character that reminds me of my siblings.
Delightful and fun read, looking forward to reading more of Castellani work!
July 18, 2017
All this talk of Love by Christopher Castellani is perhaps the best in his series inspired by his family’s experiences. We are following generations of an Italian immigrant family that settled in Wilmington DE, built a business, the tensions and struggles of the children of these immigrants as they make their own ways and some insights into the next generation. The major characters, the father, mother, son and daughter are well developed, while we get strong hints of the other people in their lives.
Because I live in Delaware, the neighborhoods, habits and views of the people are well developed. I was also in the Boston area and secured a doctorate, so the struggles of the son, Frankie, are understandable, but very male and also inspired by unresolved family issues. The death of the first born son, Tony, haunts everyone, even Frankie who was born after his brother’s death. Prima lost control after her brother’s death, but then became the perfect wife and mother. Maddalena is the mother and the center of everyone’s world. Antonio, the father, is very devoted to her and in the face of her dementia or mental decline, the family members in their different ways have to come together. Antonio as an Italian-American father has to think about the whole family and make decisions. He monitor’s his wife’s decline, while she is uncertainty about her situation as she moved in and out of awareness. This state is captured very well in the writing.
Castellani, in the narrative structure, captures the points of view of different members who do not necessarily talk about what is happening with each other. Like many families, they keep their own counsel and try to direct the activities of others. The lack of communication speaks much to family life in this country. We see that life is not predictable, just as Tony’s death was a surprise that no one could control; the planned family vacation to Italy is also disrupted, but then happens in another form.
Compelling writing and while I did not like all the characters, I could appreciate the point of view of many of them. It was also nice to read a novel set in two cities that I know.
Because I live in Delaware, the neighborhoods, habits and views of the people are well developed. I was also in the Boston area and secured a doctorate, so the struggles of the son, Frankie, are understandable, but very male and also inspired by unresolved family issues. The death of the first born son, Tony, haunts everyone, even Frankie who was born after his brother’s death. Prima lost control after her brother’s death, but then became the perfect wife and mother. Maddalena is the mother and the center of everyone’s world. Antonio, the father, is very devoted to her and in the face of her dementia or mental decline, the family members in their different ways have to come together. Antonio as an Italian-American father has to think about the whole family and make decisions. He monitor’s his wife’s decline, while she is uncertainty about her situation as she moved in and out of awareness. This state is captured very well in the writing.
Castellani, in the narrative structure, captures the points of view of different members who do not necessarily talk about what is happening with each other. Like many families, they keep their own counsel and try to direct the activities of others. The lack of communication speaks much to family life in this country. We see that life is not predictable, just as Tony’s death was a surprise that no one could control; the planned family vacation to Italy is also disrupted, but then happens in another form.
Compelling writing and while I did not like all the characters, I could appreciate the point of view of many of them. It was also nice to read a novel set in two cities that I know.
April 20, 2017
3.5 Stars
October 13, 2012
Christopher Castellani's third novel is a beautifully evocative examination of a family greatly affected by a past tragedy and their ethnic culture. Antonio and Maddalena Grasso came to America from Santa Cecila, Italy fifty years ago. Together they had three children, but lost one tragically years ago. Now their remaining children and grandchildren have each formed a family construct based on their individual experiences, while Antonio and Maddalena each deal with their personal grief in solitary ways.
The novel examines the complicated ways people love, as stated in the book, from the heart, from the head and from the soul. With Maddalena, who was in love with another boy before Antonio and Maddalena's father arranged their marriage, love is compartmentalized, coupled with a need to cut herself off completely from her heritage, ignoring letters and calls to her family back in Italy. When her daughter Prima tries to arrange a trip for the entire family to travel back to Santa Cecila, all are taken aback by the ferocity of Maddalena's refusal. Youngest son Frankie has moved from the family's Delaware roots to write his thesis at Boston College. He is a lost soul, eschewing maturity for a dysfunctional sexual relationship with his adviser, and a relationship with his mother that can't move past childhood.
Couple all of these mini family dramas with Maddalena's health challenges and you'd think All This Talk of Love would echo the soap opera that Frankie and Maddalena discuss every day. But Castellani's exploration lifts the story above melodramatics and creates flawed and real characters struggling with long ago grief and the complicated love of family.
The novel examines the complicated ways people love, as stated in the book, from the heart, from the head and from the soul. With Maddalena, who was in love with another boy before Antonio and Maddalena's father arranged their marriage, love is compartmentalized, coupled with a need to cut herself off completely from her heritage, ignoring letters and calls to her family back in Italy. When her daughter Prima tries to arrange a trip for the entire family to travel back to Santa Cecila, all are taken aback by the ferocity of Maddalena's refusal. Youngest son Frankie has moved from the family's Delaware roots to write his thesis at Boston College. He is a lost soul, eschewing maturity for a dysfunctional sexual relationship with his adviser, and a relationship with his mother that can't move past childhood.
Couple all of these mini family dramas with Maddalena's health challenges and you'd think All This Talk of Love would echo the soap opera that Frankie and Maddalena discuss every day. But Castellani's exploration lifts the story above melodramatics and creates flawed and real characters struggling with long ago grief and the complicated love of family.
December 6, 2021
This novel struck me in a way that I can’t quite explain. I really enjoyed it, nearly loved it – the only thing holding me back from loving it was that, at times, I felt it moved a bit slowly. But I liked the plot – members of the Grasso family each having at least one difficulty they need to come to terms with, both internally and externally – and I felt the characters were really well developed and consistent throughout the novel. Maybe the book struck me because I connected with each of the characters; after all, I did find something in each of them that I could relate to.
One of my favourite things about the novel, however, is the writing. The description promised “some unwelcome surprises,” and it certainly delivered on that promise. Admittedly, one of the “surprises,” isn’t really a surprise; the novel leads up to it pretty well. But another, wasn’t something that I was expecting at all. And the author’s descriptions of certain things were very well written.
All in all, I consider this a book that I felt I connected with fairly well, and one I would recommend to just about anybody, as long as they don’t mind a slightly slower read.
One of my favourite things about the novel, however, is the writing. The description promised “some unwelcome surprises,” and it certainly delivered on that promise. Admittedly, one of the “surprises,” isn’t really a surprise; the novel leads up to it pretty well. But another, wasn’t something that I was expecting at all. And the author’s descriptions of certain things were very well written.
All in all, I consider this a book that I felt I connected with fairly well, and one I would recommend to just about anybody, as long as they don’t mind a slightly slower read.
June 10, 2013
While I was glad to get back to the Grasso family, this is a very sad book, and I felt a bit cheated having missed out on the past 40 or so years of their lives. So much has happened since The Saint of Lost Things -- life, death, people have grown up and changed. But Maddalena has never been able to quite heal the wounds that come from being taken from her beloved family and Italian village and there is never any certainty that she truly loves Antonio the way she once loved, in Italy. Antonio takes a lead in this story, he's elderly, loving, and full of grief. Their adult children play large roles and are interesting people with complicated relationships. Then, their daughter, Prima, decides to bring the large family to Italy, a place where only Maddalena and Antonio have ever been, but not for over 50 years. Life, tragedies, get in the way of her plans, and then Maddalena begins to leave the present, breaking hearts. A beautiful family tale, full of sorrow and very full of love.
February 17, 2013
Although this book has received glowing reviews in the critical review magazines read by librarians, I found it somewhat of a letdown. It chronicles the story of a married couple who came to the States from Italy and their first-generation American children. Antonio Grasso married Maddalena after he returned to Italy and viewed the available daughters from her family. She left the love of her life behind in Italy to move to America with him. She cut off all contact with her family back in Italy while her husband maintained the links. After fifty years, their daughter Prima arranged a family trip back to Italy. Maddelena says she will not go, and the book goes on from there. It's a typical Italian family saga. Somehow it lacks the flare that would move it to into the "great" category. It's a fine read but nothing really startling happens. If you see it on a shelf, give it a try. It may really ding your bell. Possibly those of Italian descent would find it more riveting.
April 6, 2016
I received a copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.
I really enjoyed this book. Be advised though, this is the third book in a trilogy by this author. I wish I had known that going in. However, the story is strong enough to stand on its own.
That being said, this was a very well-written, sweeping story of an elderly Italian immigrant couple and their two adult children.
There are many heartbreaks revealed along the way. The story bounces between the parents, Maddalena and Antonio, their daughter Prima and son Frankie. Prima surprises the family by buying them all tickets to Italy for a family trip. She is shocked when her mother rejects the idea and refuses to go. The layers of the story begin to peel off and it really pulled me in.
I would definitely recommend this book!
I really enjoyed this book. Be advised though, this is the third book in a trilogy by this author. I wish I had known that going in. However, the story is strong enough to stand on its own.
That being said, this was a very well-written, sweeping story of an elderly Italian immigrant couple and their two adult children.
There are many heartbreaks revealed along the way. The story bounces between the parents, Maddalena and Antonio, their daughter Prima and son Frankie. Prima surprises the family by buying them all tickets to Italy for a family trip. She is shocked when her mother rejects the idea and refuses to go. The layers of the story begin to peel off and it really pulled me in.
I would definitely recommend this book!
January 20, 2013
This is an interesting book that delves into the psyche of a few of the main characters. I especially like the musings of Antonio Grasso and his feeling for his wife of 50 years. His constant acts of love for her, when all she thinks about is an old love from Italy, are amazing. Antonio fell in love with Maddalena the first time he saw her, and that love never falters. I did not like the younger son, Frankie. He is a weak and dependent individual. The only daughter, Prima, must face her own demons when she is no longer in charge of everyone's lives and must depend on her family. The cloud over the death of the older son, Tony, leaves an untold story. I really felt the characters anguish and pleasure in the many pages of preparing for the trip to Italy. The trip seemed a let down, since all the discoveries happened before the trip.
June 6, 2013
Castellani has a wonderfully warm and sensitive way of characterizing older people. This quality really made this book shine for me. I will always remember the older couple, Antonio and Magdellena, and their final trip to their hometown in Italy. I wished this part of the story happened earlier in the book and lasted longer. At times the beginning of the book was a bit choppy and hard to follow.The younger characters, Frankie a graduate student; Birch, his sex crazed, uncaring and unethical advisor/mistress and Prima, an neurotic obsessive mother, were not as compelling or interesting as their parents. I also wished for more description of the village, the landscape, food, customs and ambiance of Italy. Another character, Kelly Ann, an idealistic BC student resonated perfectly with my experience with that type and offers Frankie another path forward in life.
February 20, 2013
My favorite book in the Grasso family trilogy. This book was haunting and melancholy and funny and true. This book follows Maddalena in the last days of her life. We meet her three children and learn about them as well. Antonio becomes even more complex and fascinating as a character. There are a lot of secrets in this family, and regarding a few of them, the reader is the only person privy to every part of the story.
A wonderful wrap-up to Castellani's series. He's a talented writer and it feels more like a biography of a family rather than fictional characters. He loves his characters so much you can feel it coming through the pages. I highly recommend this series.
A wonderful wrap-up to Castellani's series. He's a talented writer and it feels more like a biography of a family rather than fictional characters. He loves his characters so much you can feel it coming through the pages. I highly recommend this series.
May 18, 2013
Here's another book that I read half of before I gave up. This is the story of an Italian family. The parents came over from the old country and settled in the USA. They made a decent life for themselves and their children ~ who are now grown. There are little snippets of back stories for each character and some of the stories overlap. None of the characters seemed very happy. However, this was too heavy to read for me. I got so tired of reading words and struggling through chapters that I almost fell asleep at one point. It just didn't keep my interest.
February 3, 2013
I really wanted to love this book, but at times I got tired of the endless family dynamics and the binds of love they talked of.
I liked the daughter until "the big event" but after that not much was heard from her.
The book is well written and moves well until the last go around and gets a bit bogged down.
I liked the daughter until "the big event" but after that not much was heard from her.
The book is well written and moves well until the last go around and gets a bit bogged down.
June 26, 2013
One of my favorite kinds of book to read is the family saga and Christopher Castellani has written such a masterpiece, it almost re-defines the genre. Particularly masterful was his treatment of one of his main character's slow slide into dementia, not an easy feat to pull of but which Chris does so skillfully. Highly recommended.
November 20, 2014
It is interesting to me that a gay male novelist chose to write a novel about identity, belonging, and community arguably without a gay male main character.
The characters are not drawn richly enough to consistently keep my attention.
The authors end note succinctly talks about his personal experience on a family trip to Rome. The story might make a memoir stronger than this fiction.
The characters are not drawn richly enough to consistently keep my attention.
The authors end note succinctly talks about his personal experience on a family trip to Rome. The story might make a memoir stronger than this fiction.
February 19, 2013
The reviews of this book made it seem more interesting than I found it, although I still finished it. It was not my favorite - too much like watching someone else's family life with no good conclusion - you just stopped watching. I wouldn't read it again.
March 23, 2013
Finished this book tonight. Perhaps I should have read the others first. I found the characters harsh and unlikeable. Depressing and sad, especially Prima and Frankie. I did like the love story of Maddalena and Antonio.
October 3, 2022
I could relate to this book in so many ways. Good read for 2nd generation Italian Americans who are really American Italians!
Although the story line is not similar to mine, the foods, the slang phrases, the feeling, the enduring love of family all ring true for me.
Although the story line is not similar to mine, the foods, the slang phrases, the feeling, the enduring love of family all ring true for me.
July 29, 2013
Somewhat uneven and overwritten at times, so I really had to push myself to finish. Characters were likable... sense of place and emotion were well done. Liked it.
August 6, 2013
A difficult book to read, what with tears in my eyes the whole time. Buy several and give them to your family.
March 23, 2014
Heartwarming tale of an Italian-American family, with all its foibles, frustrations, loyalties, love.
August 3, 2018
Right after my husband asked me how I liked this book and I’d told him it was good, I got to a part near the end where I began to cry for several pages; and I knew I would tell him later that I’d changed my mind, that it was great, and I’d felt embarrassed for not thinking so sooner.
I’ll tell him when he gets home - now that I’m finished - that I thought the characters had great development, much better than most books, but nothing remarkable. It wasn’t until chapter 11 - the part where my crying began - when I realized you don’t cry like this over characters who haven’t stolen your heart.
I’ll remind him of this weird habit I have of wanting to be at the end of a book right when I start; that I, frankly, wanted this a little more with this book because I felt like I moved more slowly through it, but I’m glad for that now because I will never forget it.
I’ll tell him the scene where cool-mom Prima has a party and discovers her kids downstairs was disgusting and that it completely ruined that character for me in an otherwise great book.
I’ll tell him that I loved how the author described Maddelena’s demented perspective, having just recently mourned the death of my grandmother taken by the same disease. I felt like it must have been my own grandmother’s thoughts and heart, and I feel a sense of closure I didn’t even know I needed.
Finally, I’ll tell him this book is the third in a trilogy, and that I don’t want to read the first two because this is everything.
I’ll tell him when he gets home - now that I’m finished - that I thought the characters had great development, much better than most books, but nothing remarkable. It wasn’t until chapter 11 - the part where my crying began - when I realized you don’t cry like this over characters who haven’t stolen your heart.
I’ll remind him of this weird habit I have of wanting to be at the end of a book right when I start; that I, frankly, wanted this a little more with this book because I felt like I moved more slowly through it, but I’m glad for that now because I will never forget it.
I’ll tell him the scene where cool-mom Prima has a party and discovers her kids downstairs was disgusting and that it completely ruined that character for me in an otherwise great book.
I’ll tell him that I loved how the author described Maddelena’s demented perspective, having just recently mourned the death of my grandmother taken by the same disease. I felt like it must have been my own grandmother’s thoughts and heart, and I feel a sense of closure I didn’t even know I needed.
Finally, I’ll tell him this book is the third in a trilogy, and that I don’t want to read the first two because this is everything.
January 5, 2020
In some respects this was a difficult read. Its focus on authenticity forced one to think in realistic terms. Love is all that a family has in good and hard times. Despite some misgivings, Maddalena follows Antonio to a new life in the United States, leaving behind her family, friends, and the small mountain village of St. Cecilia. Fifty years later they have built a business, lost a child to suicide, and gained four grandsons. Prima, their oldest decides it is time to go back to their roots and plans a family trip to Italy. Maddalena resists until the family decides the trip must go on and in doing so, they develop the final wisdom of love and family.
August 9, 2017
I enjoyed the book but found it somewhat sentimental and maudlin.
The codependent Italian family has been done to death- think The Godfather without the mafia.
There is an event that casts a pall on each member of the family in different ways but the genesis of that story line is left vaguely blank and unsatisfactorily explained.
I do think Mr. Castellani has a deft way with story of the ageing parents, that I found quite tender.
I enjoyed but did not love this book.
The codependent Italian family has been done to death- think The Godfather without the mafia.
There is an event that casts a pall on each member of the family in different ways but the genesis of that story line is left vaguely blank and unsatisfactorily explained.
I do think Mr. Castellani has a deft way with story of the ageing parents, that I found quite tender.
I enjoyed but did not love this book.
February 3, 2019
My love for the member of the Italian family at the center of this book lagged behind the narrator's fondness for them, and the fault there may well be mine. I think I felt tepid toward the Grassos mostly because I found the large compromises they make, individually or by common consent, plausible but not especially consoling or heartrending. That said, some of the second-order compromises that Castellani credits to his characters have precisely the texture and heft of reality.
September 1, 2024
The prequel to this book, A Kiss From Maddelena, remains a favorite of mine for its ability to place me alongside the characters in an Italian hillside town similar to where my grandparents grew up. I expected to love this from the first chapter, but it took several before I cared about all the players. I was rooting for my favorites and scolding others by the end and appreciated the humanity in each one. Ready for Book 3, Mr. Castellani!
August 17, 2017
I've read one of Christopher's works before and found it quite good so, I thought I'd give this one a try. I did like the premise of the book itself however, I felt as though the storyline of Maddalena and Frankie's relationship was a bit taboo of mother/son relationships, making it seem a bit too exaggerated. Also, I wasn't too keen on the character of Prima; I felt as though she never really had a storyline to begin with, and seemed to be lost throughout the main plot itself. I wished that more would have been explained of the family's trip to Italy; it was only just added at the end very quickly, with a lot of uncertainty mixed-in. Overall, it was a nice read of a typical Italian family's dynamics however, there just seemed to be a few gaps that were left unfulfilled.
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