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On September 19th I had the pleasure to attend
Connie Guzzo-McParland’s book launch at the Cultural Center of Little Italy in Montreal which is better known as Casa
d'Italia. Connie is a versatile and accomplished author, businesswoman, and
publisher, to name a few. Her debut
novel, The Girls of Piazza d’Amore, is
the love story of three girls, and the forces that lead them to leave their
village for a better life across the ocean.
Born in Italy and raised in Montreal, Connie shares a richly
texture story of immigration and childhood. However, at the book launch she
explained that she wanted to tell much more than that and hoped the reader could
read in between the lines of these simple stories and see the bigger stories
within them. She then added, “In putting
down on paper some of the images of village life I carried in my head for
years, I hoped to illustrate how a group of people were affected by the changes
happening in villages all over south Italy in the 50s- soon after the effects
of the war and just before the modernization of Italy and its economic boom of
the 60s.”
Connie read two excerpts from the novel; they were humorous,
light, picturesque, and colorful. Before reading, she explained that “the novel
only alludes to these issues in a lighthearted, cheerful tone, since it’s
recounted from the perspective of a young girl. For the general Canadian reader,
I wanted to show that the men and women who would become their factory workers,
their tailors, barbers, gardeners all carried interesting stories behind them.”
I posted the book cover so you can get the feel of the
village. Connie told the audience that, “the cover image represents a very
important landmark of the village, a communal water fountain in the outskirt of
the town, where women used to fetch water every evening and also do their
weekly laundry. It was also the meeting place for young people to exchange
glances and love notes, and some key scenes in the book are set in this
fountain.”
Although Connie is the Co-director and President of Guernica
Editions, she published her book with Linda Leith Publishing.
I hope I have piqued your interest so you, too, can enjoy this
beautifully written story about love and friendship in Italy.
ISBN 978-1-927535-19-6 (pbk.)
Publisher: www.lindaleith.comLeith.lindaleith@gmail.com
