The Hunger Saint

by Olivia Kate Cerrone

The Hunger Saint is a story of hope and survival set in post-WWII Italy. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as "a well-crafted and affecting literary tale," this historical novella follows the journey of Ntoni, a twelve-year-old boy forced to labor in Sicily's sulfur mines to support his family after his father's untimely death. Faced with life-threatening working conditions, Ntoni must choose between escaping the mines and abandoning his family. As a series of unforeseen events soon complicate his plans, Ntoni realizes that all is not what it seems and to trust anyone might prove to be as fatal as being trapped inside of a cave-in. The Hunger Saint draws from years of historical research and was informed by the oral histories of former miners still living in Sicily today

Genres: Historical Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2017

About the author

Olivia Kate Cerrone's Pushcart Prize-nominated fiction won the Jack Dyer Prize from the Crab Orchard Review. She's received various literary honors, including residencies at Ragdale, the VCCA, and the Hambidge Center, where she was awarded a "Distinguished Fellowship" from the National Endowment for the Arts. She currently resides in Boston, MA.

Reviews

[Chris]

I was running the sales desk while Ms. Cerrone was speaking about her work and reading excerpts. What I overheard about her extensive research, interviews with surviving miners, visits to the ruins of the mines, and her study of generational, hereditary trauma, combined with my own Sicilian ancestry was enough to spur me on to read this novella. (I was pleased she referred to it as a novella, as well.)
I don't remember my grandparents ever mentioning the sulphur mines of Sicily, but my grandparents could be as tight-lipped and stoic as many of Cerrone's characters. This novella presents life as we can only imagine it must have been for a few of the poor, tired, huddled masses yearning to breath free(r). At least, some of those lives that struggled in the mines of Sicily at the end of World War Two.

[grace (⊙_◎) · Rating 3 out of 5]

illuminating and heartbreaking in the same
3.5

[Crystal King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, gritty and moving novella that takes you into the heart of child labor in the sulfur mines in Sicily almost a hundred years ago. Cerrone's knowledge of that slice in time is incredible and enables her to paint a picture that will grip you to the core. A fast but highly worthwhile read.

[Gail Reitano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mine where Ntoni toils, the source of the sulfur burns on his hands, is also where his father was killed, the result of an exploding acetone lamp.

In the workshop of Ziu Peppi, the older man rubs balm into Ntoni’s aching hands. “When I was your age, I worked in the salt mines of Enna… After a while, my hands became so numb from working with all of that salt that I couldn’t feel anything. I thought I’d lose both of them.”

Olivia Kate Cerrone’s wonderful novella, The Hunger Saint, recreates the brutal conditions in Masterful-
Sicily’s sulfur mines in the post-war period:
In simple and beautifully descriptive prose, Cerrone creates compelling characters, the most astonishing of which is the mine itself as it breathes its sulfurous breath, stealing the life from even the youngest males in the community. This experience, like so many in Sicily and southern Italy during this period, is the spur that causes Ntoni to be packed off to America via the port of Catania with money saved by his dead father for just that purpose.

My great grandfather was from Catania, and reading this wonderful book made me wonder whether he might have fled similar deprivations. This beautifully written book is a modern masterpiece - about a time and a place we should all know more about.

[Christina Gagliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author's style is perfect: evocative and sensory without drawing attention to itself and, during the couple of hours I was reading this novella, I was absolutely in that mine and part of that character's life. It felt like Ms. Cerrone had done so much research that she was entirely comfortable writing about this world, which is probably another reason why, as a reader, I was so completely swept into it. Deciding to write a novella was a gamble but it was a wise choice in this case: there's too much character development and material for a short story but story told in this novella would have lost some of its impact if, for example, the author had chosen to write a novel that followed the Ntoni farther into the future or that started before the point that it did.

I cannot wait to read more of this author's work!

[Marco Rafalà · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, haunting novella about the child sulfur miners of Sicily, known as the carusi and the soccorso morto—the death loan—that forced children to work under brutal and unsafe conditions to aid their impoverished families. The story of young Ntoni who struggles to free himself and to keep his little brother from a life in the mines will stay with you just as the dirt and grime stays with these child laborers no matter how many times their mothers wash them.

[Al Adducci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Met someone whose father was a child slave in Sicilian Sulphur Mine. Never heard of this before. Even though my family is from Calabria, and I have visited, researched the local history.

I searched for books on this and found this book.

Book describes that underground life and the resulting raw motivation that propels those lucky or cunning, creative, enough to escape to the New World - New Life.

[Rita Ciresi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This riveting, hyperrealistic novella tells the story of Ntoni, a child who works in a Sicilian sulfur mine. Olivia Kate Cerrone's debut explores the horrors of child labor and will remind readers of 19th-century classics that expose the hidden costs of industrialization, such as Charles Dickens' Hard Times and Emil Zola's Germinal.

[Collin Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to learn about a side of Italian culture I didn’t know about. It’s a very quick read, but sufficiently envelopes you with the feelings and emotions of the characters.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but poignant depiction of the sulfur
miners in Sicily. Good for a breather between
books
Worth it

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a heart wrenching look into the lives of the carusi (child mine laborers) in rural Sicily. I was moved to tears at points.

[Addison V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a rather excellent novella. The writing was engrossing, the prose accomplished yet fluid. The writer has an especial affinity for imagery: she vividly renders the hellish, inhuman details of the sulfur mines in Sicily (e.g., the sweltering environment; the claustrophobic, incredibly dangerous working conditions; the unbearably stifling living quarters), but she just as adeptly, distinctly, and clearly depicts the bucolic locale's more beauteous and even beatific aspects and qualities (for instance, the snow on the mountains, the aromas of the flowers, the succulent taste of a pomegranate).
This story was also very well plotted--and subtly so. The narrative itself was, again, engrossing, yet it was also tragic and poignant, and--in a bittersweet kind of way--if not uplifting, then sorrowfully inspiring.
Lastly, this book was very informative, as I--and I would venture to guess quite a few other readers as well--was hitherto rather benighted concerning the subject of exploited child labor in the sulfur mines of post-WWII Sicily. But this book not only shed light on this topic for me, but made me want to learn more about it.

[J. d'Merricksson · Rating 4 out of 5]

**This book was reviewed for the Manhattan Book Review**

In The Hunger Saint Cerrone has opened a window to the past, giving a glimpse of the harsh conditions of yesteryear. For decades, sulphur mining was part and parcel to Sicily’s economy. For much of that time, it was not uncommon to have children as young as ten working in the mines. Ntoni is no exception. In the years following the devastating Second World War, Ntoni’s father is lost in a mine accident. In order to help his poor family, he is contracted to a soccorso morto loan and sent to the nearby Miniera Cozzo Disi to work, the same mine that took his father.

Ntoni is a caruso, one of a number of boys who haul ore back to the surface and to the purification furnaces. It is grueling work that will eventually warp and twist the growing, failed bodies of the boys. Form follows function after all. Being somewhat religious, Ntoni is mocked for keeping a picture of St. Calogero, the 'Hunger Saint’. He hasn't yet become jaded and cynical.

Ntoni’s only friend is Zui Peppi, the mine’s mechanic. Peppi was friends with Ntoni's father, and had planes to get him to a French mine, where the pay was better. This offer is passed to Ntoni, but before it can be enacted, an accident sends Peppi away. Ntoni continues to labour in the harsh conditions, until further family tragedy offer him the opportunity to be free of the mine.

Well-researched, The Hunger Saint is a snapshot out of time; a picture of the desperate struggle to survive in a post-war world. It is a gritty world (no pun intended), where young boys are set to work in atrocious conditions, and where the spectre of Death is a constant companion. I love historical fiction, and history in general. This book was a great read in and of itself, really bringing the truth of the harsh conditions to life. It was also a great bonding read for my SO and I. Jonas has ancestors a few generations back who were Sicilian miners from Lercara Friddi. We enjoy sharing our reading, and discussing it. That was enjoyable, even if the topic was decidedly not. A pronunciation guide is suggested. Especially for Ntoni's name itself! That's not a typical consonant cluster in English.

🎻🎻🎻🎻 Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, or who have an interest in Sicilian and/or mining history.