Ordering Information
$25.00, 6 x 9, Paperback, 176 pages, b&w images
Publication date: February 14, 2025
ISBN: 978-1-963714-06-7
Copies are available through Amazon.com
Rough Seas and Strange Food
Emigrating from Abruzzo to Nova Scotia
by Egizia Santilli Brown
For the Italian language student, this dual-language book features thirty two stories—each written in the original Italian, with English translations, recipes and photographs. The stories are taken from the age of ten to the adulthood of the author, who has been an Italian language teacher for many years.
Readers’ Comments
Love for family, pride and passion for traditions and a deep longing for new beginnings are captured by Egizia Brown in this endearing legacy story. Ben scritto!
—Mary Ann Esposito, author of Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food, Adventures in Italy and Ciao Italia: Plant, Harvest, Cook!
Once again, Egizia has compiled a delightful group of autobiographical stories that make learning Italian a richer experience. The one-page vignettes, accompanied by the English translation and vocabulary, are colorful, personal and easy to read. The book is a fun adventure in learning the language while also offering a perspective on the rich Italian diaspora. Grazie Egizia!
—Wendy Geer, student of Italian
Rough seas and strange food make the Atlantic crossing difficult for ten-year-old Egizia. As she enters Halifax, Nova Scotia with her mother and sister, she begins a new life in a place very different from the small town in Italy where she was born. But in Canada, too, there is a loving family waiting to see her, new friends to be made, and new adventures ahead.
—Lyn Godino, student of Italian
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.
