Ordering Information
$25.00, 6 x 9, Paperback, 130 pages, b&w images
ISBN: 978-1-937721-97-8
Copies are available through Amazon.com.
From Vico 1° Porta Nuova and Beyond: Memories of an Abruzzo Childhood
by Egizia Santilli Brown
For the Italian language student, this dual-language book features thirteen stories—each one appearing in the original Italian, with English translations, and photographs. The stories are taken from childhood of the author, who has been an Italian language teacher for many years.
Readers’ Comments
“Egizia’s childhood in Abruzzo, Italy, is brought to life in her collection of captivating stories written in Italian and English. Her vivid memory of her everyday experiences is woven into stories that will delight. Her love for her family and home country is evident in every word, and you will learn about life in this beautiful region of Italy. This is a perfect book for anyone studying Italian.”
—Carla Marran Ranks
“These charming stories of life in the Mezzogiorno of 1950s Italy gives us insight into the lives of our Italian forefathers and mothers. Egizia’s endearing stories honor the culture of our Italian heritage. These are stories for the ages, told with love.”
—Anna Cerza
“Egizia’s journey is a heartwarming story of a girl born in Italy in the 1940s into a hardworking and loving family where chores are balanced with games and adventures. Egizia brings this family to life and allows the reader a look into a not-too-distant, but vastly different, past.”
—Lynne Godino
“Egizia spirits us into her childhood home, enveloping us in the atmosphere of an Italy of the not-so-distant past. The characters we meet are vivid and charming and the stories full of humor. We get a sense of the culture and see the hard work and the interdependency of her friends and neighbors.
This book is a wonderful complement for Italian language classes and will appeal to both children and adults. A particular strength of the book is Egizia’s use of direct, uncomplicated language. There is an abundance of vocabulary, and the word meanings are quite easy to intuit based on the context.”
—Bonnie Patch
About the Author
Egizia Santilli Brown was born in Pratola Peligna, Abruzzo, Italy, and emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she learned to speak English and graduated from Mt. St. Vincent’s University with degrees in English and Education.She moved to New England and taught elementary school in Portland, Maine, for a year,and then for over 20 years in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.Meanwhile she began teaching adult education classes in the Italian language and Italian cooking and has continued with these for almost 30 years, having reached hundreds of would-be Italian speakers.
She currently lives in Greenland, New Hampshire, near her two sons, daughters-in-law, and three grandsons.
