Book Notes: a positive portrayal of the immigrant experience
Adriana Trigiani’s novel The Shoemaker’s Wife is a fictional story based on her own grandparents’ experience. It begins in the early 1900s with the Lazzari brothers, Eduardo and Ciro, going into the care of nuns in the Italian Alps. The younger Ciro is a favorite of the nuns. After he witnesses a new priest in a compromising position with a parishioner, both brothers are banished from the convent. The nuns arrange for Ciro to go to New York City. Prior to leaving, he meets Enza Ravanelli from a nearby village and they fall in love.
Both Ciro and Enza emigrate to New York, neither aware of the other. After serving as a shoemaker’s apprentice, Ciro serves in WWI and gains U.S. citizenship. Meanwhile, Enza works as a seamstress to the stars of the Metropolitan Opera and sends most of her money back to Italy to help her family build a house.
The story follows Enza’s and Ciro’s near misses in reuniting. Eventually, just as Enza is about to marry someone else, she and Ciro do reunite, marry, and move to the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. Ciro opens a shoe shop to supply miners with handmade boots, and Enza designs and sews elegant costumes for society ladies.
The alternating perspectives of Ciro and Enza are used to tell this story of love, family, friendship, and loyalties. It is also about the immigrant experience.
UMRA’s Book Club members liked the book and its positive portrayal of the immigrant experience. Several thought the descriptions of Northern Italy were wonderful. One said she gained a new appreciation for the Iron Range though the author’s descriptions of “up and coming” Chisholm and Hibbing in early 1900s. A few members said some of the plot turns were implausible, but this just added to a very spirited discussion
—Laura Ericksen
Book Club to discuss The Shoemaker's Wife
Fri, Apr 19 2019, 2pm
Laura Erickson will lead a discussion of The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani, when the UMRA Book Club meets at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 19, at the 1666 Coffman building on Larpenteur Avenue in Falcon Heights. For more information, contact Pat Tollefson at [email protected].
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.