Monday, August 14, 2006

"Beyond Bagheria" Sicilian Orphan to New Orleans Lynchings- From Havoc to Horror

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Most of us are familiar with Richard Gambino's account of the brutal lynchings of eleven Italian-Americans by a New Orleans mob in 1891, AFTER those Italian Americans were found NOT GUILTY by a Jury in a Court of Law, of the charges against them. (See: "Vendetta: The True Story of the Largest Lynching in U.S. History" by Richard Gambino.Guernica, $18).  http://128.100.205.52/product/utq/691/vendetta109.html

 

"Beyond Bagheria" makes that account personal, as the author traces the flight of her orphaned mother from the ravages of the Spanish Flu epidemic in Sicily, that wrecked havoc on the population, to the Promised Land of America, only to be subjected to a New Orleans "society" that engages in pervasive ethnic hostility towards Italian Americans, and instead of being contrite about the horrific Lynchings of Italian Americans of 30 years earlier, the community wears it as a "Badge of Honor".  

 

 

BEYOND BAGHERIA

 

The Italian American Press is pleased to announce the selection of E.P. Vallone, "Beyond Bagheria", by the Sons of Italy National Book Club.

 

Some of the rave comments made about this fascinating narrative depicting the brutal and heartless lynching of innocent Italian

American immigrants in New Orleans are visual, dramatic, riveting, and suspenseful.

 

In 1918, the Spanish Flu wreaks havoc on the life of a Sicilian girl. Orphaned in Bagheria, Sicily, with few prospects for a bright future, Isabella Zanni accepts an offer of marriage that takes her first to New Jersey and then to New Orleans.

 

She is barely settled in New Orleans when she and her family are caught in a conspiracy of greed, power, and prejudice, a tragic time resulting in violence and death for a number of Italian Americans living in New Orleans. In the end, after much grief and suffering, the immigrant Isabella learns her dreams are very much different from the reality of life in America.

 

E. P. Vallone (Elizabeth Palombella Vallone) is a teacher and a freelance writer who has contributed to two anthologies, "Curaggia: Writings By women of Italian Descent "(1998, Ontario, Canada) and "Imprints on Rockland County History" (1983).

 

In 1997, she published "Stone Perpendicular to Stone- Tribute to the Land of My Ancestors". She is currently working on a biography and another work of historical-fiction set in 12th century Sicily.

 

Readers are invited to purchase or learn more about "Beyond Bagheria", by clicking the heading Italian American Writers & Books (162 titles), listed on the Web Site of  IAP (http://www.italianamericanpress.com/) under the Contents, Book Shoppe, (eighth one down)

 

It is also available in paperback on Amazon for $19.95

 

More information at: http://www.epvallone.com/

 

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