Romano, Tony. When the World Was Young.
This
tenderhearted novel about an immigrant family during the 1950s features
Angela Rosa and Agostino Peccatori, who still long for the sight of the
Apennine Hills ringing their Italian hometown. With five children to raise,
however, they have no time for self-indulgence. Angela Rosa is constantly
cooking and cleaning, while Agostino puts in long hours running the
family-owned corner tavern. Their oldest son, Santo, is longing for a
girlfriend and a job that would give him some independence, while
16-year-old Victoria, feeling suffocated by her family's strict rules, has
begun to smoke and flirt with bad-boy Eddie Milano. But when their baby
brother, Benito, succumbs to a high fever, the entire family seems to come
apart, each nurturing a private grief with increasing intensity. Romano
describes the mourning process in heart-wrenching passages even as he relays
the love and the secrets-Agostino's infidelity, Victoria's pregnancy-that
bind and separate family members. In addition, he offers a finely detailed
depiction of the Peccatoris' West Side Chicago neighborhood, from its
Italian beef stands to its majestic Catholic church.