Women of Shadows: A Study of the Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy
The Italy of most foreigners' imaginations centers on pastoral vineyards or the glamor of Rome, but there is another part to Italy - the South - a "bleak land and dour people who see no joy in this life, but only an eternal struggle they cannot quite win." Ann Cornelisen arrived in 1954 to study archaeology; she ended up spending ten years establishing nurseries in poverty-stricken villages in Southern Italy. "Regret[ting] my own intrusion as a filter," she wanted to record the lives of the women she met because "before they disappear to become the ghostly shadows behind a myth, I think they should have their say."Women of the Shadowsfocuses on the lives of five women, describing their lives of endless work, frustration, anger, and pain. Husbands who can find no work locally leave for Germany and return once or twice a year. Their wives stay home and "do whatever else no one has done. That's what we're taught; that's what we're supposed to do. Men work and talk about politics. We do the rest." Out of horrendous conditions emerge women of amazing strength and resourcefulness, who are capable of supporting nine children, living in a one room house without light or water, or finessing their way through government regulations to gain a job or a hospital operation. With clear-sighted sympathy, Ann Cornelisen portrays these women and their impoverished land.-- For great reviews of books for girls, check outLet's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --From500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister