Friday,
November 17, 2006
Book: "Dear Olivia": Italians in
The
ANNOTICO Report
Deals mostly with the pain and sadness resulting from the
Incarceration of Italians as Enemy Aliens in
Then
there was the drowning of 486 Italians of the 734 Italians aboard when the ship "Arandora Star" that was transporting the Italians to
Also,
there were riots and looting of Italian shops all around
Researching
for the book proved tough when so many were still so reticent to talk
about the period. I think that people thought it best to let it go, to put what happened behind them and try and take their
lives on again.
At
first I thought it was Stoicism. But, it was more tied to Shame of being
treated in such a manner.
The Scotsman
Gina Davidson
Thursday
November 16, 2006
'DID
you cry?" It's Mary Contini's first reaction
when you mention her new book.
It would take a hard heart to read "Dear Olivia" and not shed a
tear - whether through sadness at the death of a baby girl from croup, or in
shame at the way her family was treated during the Second World War.
The book traces
Mary's and her husband Philip's families as they emigrate from poverty-stricken
Italy to Edinburgh and East Lothian to make new lives for their families and
then finding their world torn apart through suspicion.
For while Mary
and Philip may now be household names in Edinburgh thanks to the famous Valvona & Crolla, her latest
book shows that the Italian families were not always so welcome in the Capital.
Indeed one of the
most shocking moments comes when Mary's grandfather, father and uncles and
countless other Italian immigrants are dragged from their beds, arrested,
interned and deported in what must be one of
It was the summer
of 1940 and Mussolini had just joined forces with Hitler, prompting the
round-up of all Italian men in
The latter
included Mary and Philip's grandfathers, Cesidio Di Ciacca and Alfonso Crolla, who
both died when the liner, the Arandora Star, was
torpedoed by a German U-boat as it sailed for
Meanwhile Mary's
father Johnny Di Ciacca was interned on the
"I cried
researching the book, and I cried again just yesterday when I re-read those
chapters, they were the hardest thing I've ever written," says Mary.
"So many people in my family were affected by what happened then and have
never really talked about it. It's never really been talked about in the
Italian community at all.
"Philip's
uncle Victor, who died just last year, wouldn't talk to me about it. I think
that people thought it best to let it go, to put what
happened behind them and try and take their lives on again."
That was
something the Crollas and the Di Ciaccas
were obviously used to doing.
Alfonso Crolla left the remote mountain
But it wasn't
long before they opened their own store in Easter Road and Alfonso set about
creating the business empire which would see him team up with Ralph Valvona years later, while Maria went on to have six more
children.
One of those,
Olivia Guiseppina, was just two when she died of
croup, leaving the family bereft, until two years to the day of her death
another girl was born, also called Olivia, who would be Philip's mother.
Similarly Mary's
grandfather Cesidio, quit the
Both Alfonso and Cesidio worked hard to improve their families' lot and they
also fought on the side of the British with the Italian Army during the First
World War.
"The fact
that they fought alongside Scots really made them feel that their new country
was their home," says Mary. "Alfonso used to be invited to lay a
wreath at the Armistice Day service in
"As a result
of what happened the Italian community became closer than ever. We mixed with
our cousins and second cousins only. While we played with Scottish children at
school, we never socialised outside of that. Of
course that's changed now."
Mary, 45, says
she had wanted to write the book for ten years, but getting the information
proved tough when so many were still so reticent.
"I had a lot
of stories from family members - my dad had told me that when he was arrested
he had some cheese in his pocket to give to his dad, but he never saw him
again.
"Then there
were the oral histories held at the Scottish Library in
She adds: "I
also used newspaper archives. For instance when Mussolini sent over people to
recruit emigres to the Fascist movement, the meetings
were reported. I also read Churchill's diaries. He
believed Mussolini would be good for
"Their shops
all around
"I know when
my editor read the book she was ashamed at what had happened, but I don't think
the Scottish people should feel bad about the riots and things, it was war. And
many of them helped the families afterwards to get back on their feet."...
Mary says she
didn't let her family read the book before publication,
however Philip's mother Olivia has since read it.
"She was
very nervous about it because a lot of it is her story, but she said she felt
her father was alive again. She was also sad though because her friends were no
longer alive to discuss it all.
"But my
daughter Olivia, whom the book is written for, is only 11 so she hasn't read it
yet. I hope she will when she's older and it will inspire her - especially to
respect older people who have had so much happen in their lives which we just
don't know about."
gina.davidson@edinburghnews.com
Dear Olivia
by Mary Contini is published by Canongate,
priced #14.99.
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net