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The Italian Prisoner Kindle Edition

by Elisa M. Speranza (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 185 ratings
See all formats and editions
1943. New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas. Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents’ back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life.
When the parish priest organizes a goodwill mission to visit Italian prisoners of war at a nearby military base, Rose and her vivacious best friend, Marie, join the group. There, Rose falls for Sal, a handsome and intelligent POW. Italy has switched sides in the war, so the POWs are allowed out to socialize, giving Rose and Sal a chance to grow closer. When Rose gets a promotion at work, she must make an agonizing choice: follow a traditional path like Marie or keep working after the war and live on her own terms.
Inspired by little-known historical events and set to a swing-era soundtrack, The Italian Prisoner is an engrossing story of wartime love, family secrets, and a young woman’s struggle to chart her own course at an inflection point in American history.
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  1. Print length
    306 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    April 11, 2022
  5. File size
    1598 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Book Review 1:

"The repercussions of WWII are lovingly rendered through one woman's story, with an endearing cast of characters who all feel like family by the end."-LALITA TADEMY, New York Times best-selling author of Oprah's Book Club pick Cane River, Red River, and Citizens Creek


Book Review 2:

"... an essential contribution to the treasure trove of Italian American fiction and a transporting page-turner. I want everyone in my family to meet Rose, our inspiring heroine, whose extraordinary story will stay with me for a long time." -CHRISTOPHER CASTELLANI, author of Leading Men


Book Review 3:

"... intimate historical fiction at its page-turning best."-PAMELA ROTNER SAKAMOTO, author of Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds


Book Review 4:

"... a compelling mix of freshness and familiarity, using a female rites-of-passage narrative to transport readers to 1940s New Orleans and to bring alive the timeless challenges of living in a nation at war."-ANN HAGEDORN, award-winning author of Beyond the River, Savage Peace, Sleeper Agent and more


Book Review 5:

"...a refreshing addition to the historical women's fiction bookshelf."-KAIA ALDERSON, author of Sisters in Arms


Book Review 6:

"A dazzling World War II love story set in New Orleans that will pull you in from the very first paragraph."-JENNIFER SMITH TURNER, award-winning author of Child Bride, named the Best eBook of 2020 by the Black Caucus of The American Library Association


Book Review 7:

"... a beautiful book that will touch anyone who ever dared want more out of life." -CHARLES FORREST JONES, author of The Illusion of Simple


Book Review 8:

"The author's keen eye for the history of those years are evident as delightful details of the city at war abound."-BRIAN ALTOBELLO, author of Whiskey, Women, and War: How the Great War Shaped Jim Crow New Orleans


Book Review 9:

"With true-to-life family dynamics and the drama of first love, the author invites us to take a passeggiata alongside her heroine Rose."-SHAUNNA J. EDWARDS, co-author of The Thread Collectors


Book Review 10:

"...compelling, atmospheric, and refined. A truly magnificent read." -DIANNE C. BRALEY, author of The Silence in the Sound

About the Author

Elisa M. Speranza is the granddaughter of Irish and Italian immigrants, raised Catholic, and educated by nuns. She's been a writer and book nerd all her life. Her first paid job was in the children's room of her town's public library, and she was a journalist early in her career before spending thirty-plus years in the water and critical infrastructure business. The Italian Prisoner is her first novel. A native Bostonian and die-hard member of Red Sox Nation, Ms. Speranza moved to New Orleans in 2002. She is committed to celebrating and honoring the city's fragile and fascinating culture, environment, and history. She lives with Jon Kardon in New Orleans and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.elisamariesperanza.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09SHYR9V4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Burgundy Bend Press (April 11, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 11, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1598 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 306 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1662924135
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 185 ratings

About the author

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Elisa M Speranza

Elisa M Speranza

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Elisa M. Speranza is the author of the 2022 novel The Italian Prisoner, a finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She serves on the board of the New Orleans Writers Workshop and has been a featured author at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival, the Louisiana Book Festival, the Islanders Write conference on Martha’s Vineyard, and the Salem (MA) LitFest. Born and raised in the Boston area, Ms. Speranza lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
185 global ratings
Beautiful getaway read
5 Stars
Beautiful getaway read
This beautifully written story will be hard to put down. Set against a backdrop of war and archetypal New Orleans, the characters became friends and their life choices became as real as they are timeless. The author did a brilliant job setting the historical stage while bringing the reader into the world of her compelling characters. This captivating storytelling is sure to be your next getaway read. Perfect for summer trading season!
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Top reviews from the United States

C & D Hunt
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read that connects you to a fascinating chapter in American and New Orleans history
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2022
Verified Purchase
The Italian Prisoner shares an entertaining and educational story about, Rose, a young Italian-American woman who comes of age during WWII. She is afforded professional opportunities as a result of so many men serving overseas. This is both a rewarding and challenging experience because the societal norms of the period did not fully accept the advancement of women beyond the position of secretary, etc.

Speranza’s prose emotionally and skillfully attaches the reader to the plight of a woman seeking to have a professional career during an era where numerous challenges surface both on the job and at home where she still lives with her parents.

The primary reason I was attracted to this book was because I wanted to learn more about the historic Italian community of New Orleans and the plight of the Italian POWs located in the city during the war. Speranza did not disappoint. She made the 1940s New Orleans Italian community come alive for me, and I was fascinated by the conflicted reception the Italian POWs received.

The author obviously did her research on the above and what life in the French Quarter was like during the war.

I highly recommend this book both from an enjoyment and educational perspective.
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J. B. Santo
5.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of WWII historical
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023
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I thought I was getting tired of WWII historicals until I read this. Set in New Orleans, the homefront during the war, this novel was captivating from the first page. With a incredibly relatable main character, 20 year old Rose, this book took me into a tight knit Italian community and taught me something I never knew: Italian POWS stationed in Louisiana. The writing was beautiful, spare and powerful. I didn’t want it to be over.
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Jewell
4.0 out of 5 stars Great portrayal of New Orleans during WW II
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
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This portrayal of a Sicilian Catholic family in New Orleans during World War II was based on, I suspect, the author’s personal knowledge, because it was so convincing. The female protagonist, Rose, is one of those dutiful Catholic girls I grew up with (though in New York state); and I knew some whose parents had mom-and-pop grocery stores like the one her parents had. The novel has elements of romance (Rose falls in love with Sal, a handsome Italian prisoner of war working at a factory in NOLA) and feminism (she wishes to escape the life she seems destined for with him: marriage, cooking, working in a family business/store like her mother, who is not a good role model). Eventually she has to choose whether to marry Sal or become an independent business woman like her beautiful Aunt Inez. There is also a twist, a family mystery, that I guessed right off. The strongest element of the novel was the portrayal of the Catholic family and its life during that period of history.
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Claudia Barker
5.0 out of 5 stars Great storytelling: Romance, WWII and New Orleans history, and an inspiring heroine
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2022
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Not only is this a compelling story of a young woman coming of age during WWII, it is also a well-researched account of the role that New Orleans based Higgins Industries played in helping the Allies win the war by designing and producing the amphibious landing crafts that enabled the D-Day invasions. Speranza skillfully weaves the story of a young Sicilian American woman who joins the war effort, as many women did while the men were off fighting the battles, by working at the Higgins shipyard. There she realizes her talent in finance and project management, setting up one of the central conflicts in the story - does she continue to pursue a career or does she choose the traditional role of homemaker that her family and community expect? This question, plus her growing fondness for an Italian prisoner of war, considered by some to be unpatriotic, makes this book a page-turner that I didn’t want to end. The author paints a vivid picture of life in New Orleans during the war years, from the heartbreak of loss to the opportunities created for women to fulfill their potential, with New Orleans’ vibrant Sicilian culture as the backdrop.
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Richard J. Bedard
5.0 out of 5 stars A DELIGHTFUL EASY READ
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2022
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What a delightful, easy and fun read. History, love, WWII conditions set in the great City of New Orleans. If you like New Orleans, history and a beautiful tapestry of love and family challenges, this is for you. The architecture, sights, sounds, smells and colors jump off the page to you. Basically, read in one day, couldn't put it down. The Higgins boat, which helped the Allies win WWII provides a most interesting back story. Some of the characters are actually real people. There is even a couple of shockers you don't see coming. Most enjoyable book I've read in years, do yourself a favor.
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June S.
5.0 out of 5 stars A woman struggling with her destiny -- love, compromise, and authenticity.
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2022
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The protagonist, Rose becomes aware of her family's past misdeeds and strives to extricate herself from a future of frustration, disappointment, and regret. The storyline suggests the dilemma that she and many of us inherit from our parents. So, how does she take a stand and sacrifice the deeply rooted cultural security of her family to prevent the same scenario? What price will she pay if she acquiesces? The answers will keep the book open, and the reader captivated. The book, beautifully written and compassionately expressed, clearly surpasses the classic historical novel. It's a kick to read, an indulgence to think about, and a treasure to remember.
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Katie
4.0 out of 5 stars Please write a sequel!
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2023
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This was well researched. The characters really seemed to come alive! I really enjoyed it. I think this would make an excellent movie and hope the author will write a sequel!!!
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Reid Dennis
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2023
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Ms Elisa’s attention to detail is extraordinary as she weave the story together. As a former New Orleanian it’s a history lesson of life in New Orleans at the end of WW11. Beware of the Zephyr! I couldn’t put it down!
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Top reviews from other countries

Colleen Sidford
5.0 out of 5 stars It ended too soon!
Reviewed in Canada on October 4, 2023
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I enjoyed this romantic take on the end of the war years taking place in New Orleans. It made we like I want to know what happened next in Rose’s life journey. Light but very enjoyable read.
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