This is one of the best books I've read in quite some time. The main character, an Italian immigrant to the US in the late 1800s, was plucky and resilient. The book was beautifully written, and I had a hard time putting it down. ( )

Three and a half stars. ( )

Don't you hate it when you have written half a review and the computer has a glitch and you cannot recover it? That is what happened to me with this one!

I won this book in a contest years ago, I am finally picking it to read. The author, Pamela Schoenewaldt wrote a note in the front of her book for me.

Irma Vitale lived in a small mountian village of Opi in the early 1860s, she is a fictional character but inspired by the history of Opi and the heavy amount of research that the author invested to create the story.

Her mother had cautioned her to not leave Opi becaue if she did,she would die among strangers instead of family. But after her mother died, her father began dementia and mistook her for her mother. He tried to have sex with her a couple of times. Frightened, Irma went to the village priest for advice. He told her to go to America, gave her a little money and wrote a letter of recommendation for her to get a job in America. Irma left at night and walked down the mountain,meeting a kind and honest peddler. He took her to his sister's house for a rest. The whole town got together to make her journey better. More money, some food and a letter written for her by a scholar helped her on her journey which turned out to be a saga.

Rough passage in the bottom of the ship under terrible unhealthy conditions but she survived to go to Cincinnati and live meagerly on menial labor. Later to Chicago, where she hoped for better employment but had to deal with being raped and impregnated. With the help of friends and her defeated will, she had a wonderful turnaround to her story. The author makes it real for the readers about the struggle to survive in deepest poverty but also the determination for a better life and a way to help others, a great resolution to the story. ( )

This book took some time to get going for be but once it did, i thoroughly enjoyed it.

I found myself conflicted from time to time with it though. It seemed there were times reading it when I couldn't help but just want something GOOD to happen to her. Then again, being an immigrant in a new country can't ever be easy. It certainly wasn't for single women in the 1880s in America so I had to tell myself that it was probably more realistic than anything. People took advantage of immigrants. Sisters came over here looking for siblings, sometimes not finding them.

I couldn't help but think of my own family's experience as I was reading this book. My grandmother's mother came to the US either in the late 1800s or very early 1900s from Slovakia to Ellis Island. Couldn't help but think of their own struggles as I read of Irma's. ( )

I enjoyed much of the historical information that was woven through the fictional story of a young Italian immigrant girl coming to America. Very nicely written - moves along well as she moves to Cleveland, Chicago, and eventually California. It was easy to put myself in her shoes for a little while. Read this in one day. ( )