Set in 1953 in a tight- Italian neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware, Saint of Lost Things is the story of Maddalena Piccinelli Grasso, who was introduced in A Kiss From Maddelena. Seven years after the end of the first book, we find Maddelena, now married to Anthony and recovering from a miscarriage which almost cost her life. She's moved into a resignation about her life and her future. It seems that although she loves Anthony she desperately misses the Italian homeland she left against her will seven years ago. I thought the immigrant theme was portrayed very realistically for the time period. So many immigrants sacrificed so much to come to America but then lived in neighborhoods with people of their own culture. They deeply resented any influx of outsiders and this book attempts to show that in a fair way. The dreams of the people, the racial tensions, the rivalry between immigrant groups, and the overall closeness of the neighborhood all seem realistic. Maddalena eventually makes a friend, a man named Julian, whose immigrant story we also become a part of.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I had no idea this was the second part of a trilogy and didn't read the first book. I don't feel that had any impact because each of the three books take places years apart. I understand the final book of the trilogy, All This Talk of Love, is available and takes place fifty years after the first. I recommend The Saint of Lost Things for people who are interested in the Italian immigrant experience and American life in the 1950s.
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Set in 1953 in a tight- Italian neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware, Saint of Lost Things is the story of Maddalena Piccinelli Grasso, who was introduced in A Kiss From Maddelena. Seven years after the end of the first book, we find Maddelena, now married to Anthony and recovering from a miscarriage which almost cost her life. She's moved into a resignation about her life and her future. It seems that although she loves Anthony she desperately misses the Italian homeland she left against her will seven years ago. I thought the immigrant theme was portrayed very realistically for the time period. So many immigrants sacrificed so much to come to America but then lived in neighborhoods with people of their own culture. They deeply resented any influx of outsiders and this book attempts to show that in a fair way. The dreams of the people, the racial tensions, the rivalry between immigrant groups, and the overall closeness of the neighborhood all seem realistic. Maddalena eventually makes a friend, a man named Julian, whose immigrant story we also become a part of.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I had no idea this was the second part of a trilogy and didn't read the first book. I don't feel that had any impact because each of the three books take places years apart. I understand the final book of the trilogy, All This Talk of Love, is available and takes place fifty years after the first. I recommend The Saint of Lost Things for people who are interested in the Italian immigrant experience and American life in the 1950s.
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Not quite so excellent as A Kiss From Maddelena, but kept me happy to spend time with these characters. ( )

This story is about an Italian immigrant family. Told within that cultural context it is a wonderful insight into how these immigrants struggled to make it in the New World while also wanting to become a part of the US.

They are proud of their culture and language, but at the same time they all learn English and the American way of life. They work very hard at becoming Americans and obtaining the status that that brings. I borrowed this one from the library, but I might buy a copy and add it to my library. ( )

From November 2005 School Library Journal:
It is 1953 and Maddalena Grasso is newly arrived in the United States, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar language, strange customs, and her place in her new extended family. Her husband, Antonio, is a perpetually dissatisfied man who yearns after the American Dream: shiny new car, new home, and children. Having convinced the beautiful Maddalena to marry him and leave her family behind, he now watches over her jealously and becomes ever more frustrated over his inability to acquire all the outward trappings of success to which he feels entitled. He feels a mixture of contempt and jealousy for his brother Mario, who seems perfectly happy with his average wife, his nondescript daughters, and his job managing someone else’s restaurant. While Maddalena tries to keep Antonio grounded in the simpler joys of the life they share, his childhood friend Renato, adventurous and single, lures him on with promises of easy riches.
Maddalena befriends a middle-aged single man who has recently lost both his parents. Giulio Fabbri is drifting through life, trying to overcome his feelings of purposelessness. As his friendship with Maddalena and the Grasso family deepens, Giulio comes to understand himself and his dreams better, and realizes that he must take risks if he is ever going to be more than an observer of life.
Threading through the various relationships are undercurrents of racial tension. An African-American family moves into the predominantly Italian neighborhood, and the community reacts with ugliness and prejudice. The presence of Abraham Waters and his family seems to be a personal affront to the residents of “Little Italy.” Maddalena, Antonio, and Giulio each interact with Abraham Waters in markedly different ways, and these differences are very telling in how they handle life’s disappointments and surprises in general. With The Saint of Lost Things, Christopher Castellani has crafted a lyrical and elegant novel that goes beyond an Italian-American community in the middle of the twentieth century. His character portraits are finely drawn and he has a keen eye for the subtle dramas of family and friendship.
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