Straddling the Borders: The Year I Grew Up in Italy

by Martha T. Cummings

Book Overview

Jo, an Italian-American woman, moves to Italy to connect, on a spiritual level, with her nonno, the grandfather she never knew, along the way, she experiences an Italy that romps inside and outside... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0828320365
• ISBN13: 9780828320368
• Release Date: June 2014
• Publisher: Branden Books
• Length: 221 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Very moving and very funny book!

Straddling the Borders brings the reader on a young woman's spiritual journey via connecting with a grandfather that she never knew. It's a very moving book but also extremely funny. I couldn't put it down. The stories of her life in Italy are so funny and she conveys them with such candid and dry humor! She also gives the reader a wonderful glimpse of Italy in beautiful detail. I have visited Italy myself and after reading Straddling the Borders I feel as though I've missed so many wonderful details. Martha has inspired me to return to Italy one day and when I do, it will be with a much greater and deeper appreciation. Anyone with ancestors from another country who sacraficed much to immigrate to this country will truly appreciate Martha's spiritual journey. This book is an absolute delight!

A wonderful journey through life and Italy

While this book probably wasn't meant as a "read-aloud", my daughter and I shared Jo's experience together as we drove from New England to Miami. Martha Cumming's unique literary style made us laugh, cry, and think about what the word family really means. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of Italy through Jo's eyes and our hope is that Ms. Cummings puts her pen to the paper again very soon.

Well written; extremely amusing; Italy comes alive!

A wonderful read about the importance of family and discovering oneself while in Italy. Ms. Cummings is a beautifully descriptive writer with the ability to make one laugh and cry on the same page. Italy came alive to me in these pages and I felt as if I was a partner on this beautiful journey to find self, family, and emotional growth. Poignant, meaningful writing at its best!

A Visual, Intellectual, and Gastronomic Feast!

Gifted writer Martha Cummings, in her first novel, invites her readers to explore several of life's Big Questions through the experiences of Jo, the 26 year old Italian-American protagonist. On one level, the novel appears to be Jo's entertaining account of her year-long adventure in Italy. The story soon unfolds, however, to reveal a journey about much more than geographical displacement. Jo travels to Italy in order to learn more about her maternal grandfather, who died before she was born. Family, which maintains a central importance throuhgout the novel, serves as one of Jo's anchors during her journey of self-discovery. Jo finds herself required to straddle not only geographic borders; she also pushes beyond the confines of her pre-Italy perceptions in the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual realms. In seeking connection (another theme at the heart of Cummings's work), Jo is confronted by boundaries of time, space, language, gender, race, age, and ethnicity. As she struggles to make sense of her own position in this unknown territory, she discovers truths about herself that might not have been revealed in the relative comfort of the world she left behind. Cummings' clean, crisp prose facilitates the flow of this cohesive narrative. Each well-drawn character, detailed description, and carefully chosen word all serve to underscore Jo's awakening. Another outstanding quality of Cummings' writing is her ability to inject humor into her narrative at opportune moments, without compromising the integrity of the novel's more serious message. Jo's antics are sometimes outrageous enough to elicit audible laughter (at least from this reader). Straddling the Borders - The Year I Grew Up in Italy is a profound first novel whose messages linger in the hearts and minds of those who read it. In telling Jo's story, Cummings provides her readers with the opportunity to confront some of life's universal concerns, and gently offers a mindset through which the reader can piece together her/his own answers.

Appealing to both the novice and seasoned traveler.

For those who have already been to Italy, the novel will let you revisit most of the wonders of Rome, Florence, Venice, Sicily, and some other places. The author's descriptions are vivid and detailed; at times, I felt like I was right there with her as a privilged traveling companion. For those who haven't been to Italy yet, reading this novel will make you want to discover on your own all of the sites the author highlights. This novel is much more than a guidebook, however. The main character, Jo, has decided to live in Italy to connect with her heritage. There are many heartwarming moments as Jo pursues her quest, especially when Jo and her mother discover the home where Jo's mother's father was born. As a twenty-something woman on her own in Italy, Jo learns a great deal more than family history. By leaving home and venturing halfway across the world, she is given the opportunity to learn more about herself, by being challenged by her new environment and the other people in it.