Love & Loyalty: An Immigrant Italian Mom Raising Her Family of Twelve in the Shadow of a Mafia Crime

by Josephine B Pasquarello

With the excitement, humor, and pathos of a novel, Josephine B. Pasquarello recounts growing up in 1950s and '60s Philadelphia in colorful detail. She paints the many characters of her neighborhood with clarity and passion. But the figure who stands out the most in this family saga is the matriarch of her clan, Romania Pasquarello, whose wisdom, tireless labor, compassion, and beauty carry the family through. The author recalls that back in that time there was a show called Queen for a Day , which enshrined everyday women--mothers and wives--in their true splendor, and she wishes that her mother could have been the heroine of an episode. In this wonderful memoir, Pasquarello has succeeded in not only making her mother Queen for a Day--but Queen for a Lifetime!About the AuthorJosephine B. Pasquarello is the tenth child of an immigrant Italian woman who is the subject of this book. She is a wife, mother and grandmother, living in the suburbs of Philly. She graduated from West Philly Catholic Girls' High School in 1967. During her lifetime, Pasquarello worked in the restaurant business for twenty-five years. Later, she owned a house cleaning service and for thirteen years owned and operated a successful store in the Philadelphia area. In 2000, Pasquarello finally retired to devote time to her family. Her hobbies including traveling, working out, cooking the way she learned from her mother, and writing.

312 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2017

Reviews

[June J. McInerney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in an Irish/Italian family where my mother (Italian) “ruled the roost” and my Father (Irish) spent most of their married life trying to appease and please her every whim. My brother, much older than I, was favored by Mom while Dad doted on me. For many, many years, I did not understand the dynamics until this week when I read "Love and Loyalty, A True Story of Growing up Italian" by Josephine B. Pasquarello.
Josephine grew up in south, then southwest Philly, the tenth of twelve children of Italian immigrants. When she was six, Michael “Brownie” Pasquarello, her father, a produce grocer affiliated with the local Mafia, supposedly committed suicide. Or so Romania, her mother, led her and her siblings to believe. As her mother struggled through near poverty with great determination and fortitude to keep the family together and raise her children “properly”, Josephine silently lived with the guilt, angst, and pain of her father’s death for most of her life… Until, during her Uncle George’s funeral, she finally learned the truth…
Two years ago, after many hours of research and much soul-searching, Josephine sat down and wrote the story of her courageous mother who fought through her overwhelming grief, toiling each day to provide a clean home and three meals a day for her bereft family… She writes of her own childhood and the many daily adventures she had with her four brothers and seven sisters; growing up Italian in a predominately Irish neighborhood. Learning the lessons of racial prejudice and the kindness of unquestioned acceptance. Having faith in others and belief in oneself. And, yes, with of these, it is a testament to miracles wrought by love and loyalty.
To say that I enjoyed reading Josephine’s memoirs is an understatement. I was so totally engrossed in her down-to-earth tell-it-like-it-is(was) fluid writing style, that I did nothing for two days but immerse myself in her life. Which was both an honor and a pleasure, considering her poignant subject matter. What made the read all the more rewarding was that I had watched a video of Josephine’s presentation at the local Library and was so intrigued by her personality and her story, that I had to contacted her. After a very long phone conversation, I realized that she was a dear friend I had not known who now graces my life. So, all throughout her book, I heard her voice reading her insightful and wise words to me.
Now, while Josephine claims "Love and Loyalty" to be mostly a homage to her heroic mother (which it, and she, are), it is more of an autobiography with her mother as the main protagonist. It is also, in some respects, a true-life mystery as Josephine unfolds her father’s true fate. The writing is cleanly crisp and reminiscently cathartic as the author regales us with poignantly heart-gripping anecdotes, both funny and sad, of the trials and tribulations, happiness and joys inherent in growing up in the close-knit Pasquarello family. A family whose dynamics, as I said, to which, because of Josephine’s bold and beautiful book, I can now readily relate. And I hope that you will, too.
Enjoy the read!

[George D Madosky Jr.]

good storyline

Enjoyed the book. Being from the south Philly area it was a familiar setting that I could absolutely relate to.

[Jeanne Cherradi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Book

A very intriguing book which everyone should read.
Includes good selection of old photos.
This book was easy to read.