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I quattro camminanti. Stampa d'epoca
È una storia questa anche di donne, di spose, di madri, lasciate sole a combattere di qui e di là dal mare. È una storia antica quando ancora il mare faceva paura, quando i figli partivano e non tornavano, ma è una storia di oggi dove i mariti, i figli partono e ritornano, ogni giorno. È la storia di chi resta, custode di famiglie altrimenti disperse, tra sacrifici e speranze, con quella forza nascosta, fatta di amore e solitudine, di saggezza, tenacia e passione, talvolta di disperazione: "...Sarebbe stato più giusto che fosse lei ad andarsene per prima... Lei si impossessò di nuovo di quel figlio che se ne era andato in un'alba remota, cercò di inventarsi la sua presenza e, quando era certa che nessuno potesse sentirla, cominciò a parlargli in una cantilena che le smuoveva le viscere e le dava la certezza di essere stata sua madre..."
137 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
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September 20, 2014
As a youngster, growing up in the US steel producing area that attracted my Italian immigrant grandparents, I would hear stories from this wayfaring generation about the "old country" and the first difficult years in the US. Decades later, I inherited my father's mother's correspondence. Then more old letters in Italian fell into my hands--about 200 in all. Among these recorded thoughts of immigrants and their correspondents, with the exception of one marriage plan, the reason for leaving Italy is never mentioned! Wayfarers Four presents the reader with the inner dialogue that made the immigrant say, "I can no longer live here." So, this book provides its readers with a narrative that opens a very important and seldom expressed moment.
Across the US, we are experiencing a wave of anti-immigrant hysteria. I know that similar feelings are gripping Europe. Wayfarers Four removes the veil that many of us in the Italo-American community have placed over our bitter early years in the United States. We shout that we were the “good” immigrants as we join the ranks, all too often, with the modern immigrant haters. We forget that we have our own “illegals”— the stowaways, the clandestine border crossers, and the purchasers of falsified documents.
The name Francesco Grillo figures in my family's history with strong echoes in the story of Repossi. Francesco was a deceased Italian who had been a legal resident in the US. My uncle arrived at the US Mexican border after a trip that took him there from Naples and Montevideo. He bought the dead man’s identity and entered the US illegally. So I found Repossi’s stowaway story fascinating.
Lastly, I wanted to make a comment about the artistry that this book employs. I found the use of metaphors quite engaging and I remind you that I was reading a translation. So hats off, too, to translator Vitiello! I cite one here that I found particularly poignant, page 34 in the English translation, where the third class passengers are nearing Ellis Island:
During those final hours, many people sought shelter from the wind that their own fear had conjured up. . . .
Also the technique of telling the story in pieces, not telling it all at once, made for great reading. For example, we learn of Giose’s death later, in his brother's chapter.
As it happened, my cousin made me the gift of this book just before my visit to my maternal grandparents’ hometown of Capracotta, Italy. I finished it there, in the very place that they had decided to leave so long ago.
Across the US, we are experiencing a wave of anti-immigrant hysteria. I know that similar feelings are gripping Europe. Wayfarers Four removes the veil that many of us in the Italo-American community have placed over our bitter early years in the United States. We shout that we were the “good” immigrants as we join the ranks, all too often, with the modern immigrant haters. We forget that we have our own “illegals”— the stowaways, the clandestine border crossers, and the purchasers of falsified documents.
The name Francesco Grillo figures in my family's history with strong echoes in the story of Repossi. Francesco was a deceased Italian who had been a legal resident in the US. My uncle arrived at the US Mexican border after a trip that took him there from Naples and Montevideo. He bought the dead man’s identity and entered the US illegally. So I found Repossi’s stowaway story fascinating.
Lastly, I wanted to make a comment about the artistry that this book employs. I found the use of metaphors quite engaging and I remind you that I was reading a translation. So hats off, too, to translator Vitiello! I cite one here that I found particularly poignant, page 34 in the English translation, where the third class passengers are nearing Ellis Island:
During those final hours, many people sought shelter from the wind that their own fear had conjured up. . . .
Also the technique of telling the story in pieces, not telling it all at once, made for great reading. For example, we learn of Giose’s death later, in his brother's chapter.
As it happened, my cousin made me the gift of this book just before my visit to my maternal grandparents’ hometown of Capracotta, Italy. I finished it there, in the very place that they had decided to leave so long ago.
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