Anna Marilena's Four Sorrows

Visiting the southern Italian city of her birth, Chiara Gabrieli is dazzled by the brilliance of the Mediterranean sun and the haunting antiquity of the landscape, where gods and ancients once walked. Inspired by her surroundings and ghosts of her own, she is compelled to write the story of her grandmother Anna Marilena and her four sorrows. Set in the picturesque hilltop city of Monteseviano, Chiara's story spans the years 1900-1944, during which Anna Marilena's family is caught up in the turmoil of emigrations to America, Fascism, and World War II. The shattering of Italy and the portrayal of America as the "Home Front," are among the absorbing themes of the story. The vivid descriptions of daily life in Monteseviano impart a palpable sense of the land-scape, architecture, foods, and culture of Southern Italy. Anna Marilena's Four Sorrows, a novel of grand scope, recreating the first decades of the twentieth century in Italy and America. Cover design by Sean MitchellPainting by Giuseppe Dimichino