We know that at some points in our lives our families have migrated to different areas of the country in search of a better life. Too often we fail to see just how wonderful those difficult decisions were to make and the consequences that resulted along the way. Until now!
When We Were Strangers is the newest novel by Pamela Schoenewaldt, that takes the reader on the journey in the life of one such remarkable lady, Irma Vitale, who we find living in Italy in a small part of town called Opi. It doesn't have the best reputation and the only hope Irma has of making her life better is marriage to a man who doesn't drink and works hard. Unfortunately the prospects for this are worse at best. There are only 5 men in the village and two of them are promised to the baker's family leaving the worst available.
Yet time and time again Irma has been living in the lies of low self esteem, when people call her ugly and spread rumors about the girls from Opi being street whores, not of which is true but growing up in the sheltered mountain town makes them more believable. Only when her cousin Carlo leaves for America and the promise of something better, is Irma willing to look outside her small town and hope for something more.
This is Irma's story of making her way in a world alone, the difficulties and challenges she must face along the way. Her mother's death, her father's drunkenness and the prospects of making a family of her own someday. We get to journey with her and see the light behind an immigrants struggle to survive and in the process we can see hope at the end of the road.
I received this wonderful book compliments of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review and marveled at how eloquently the author takes us into each new part of Irma's quest for a better life, from the small town of Opi where it began to the new life offered to each immigrant in the land of the free. This one rates 5 out of 5 stars and offers a new belief that there are no such thing as strangers when you are willing to make friends and believe in something more!
For more information about this book, the author and where to get a copy of this book, please click on the link below:
Thanks to the generous folks at TLC Book Tours, they are offering a copy to one lucky reader of this blog. Simply leave a comment telling me why you'd love to win a copy. The giveaway will end on February 11th. I will notify the winner by email at that time, so please include it with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols. You must be a follower of this blog to enter and have a US shipping address. Please NO P.O. Boxes.
