The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

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In this stunning debut novel, a young woman tells the story behind two elderly sisters estrangement, unraveling family secrets stretching back a century and across the Atlantic to early 20th century ItalyFor Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life Stella s childhood is full of strange, life threatening incidents moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns Even Stella s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted.In her rugged Italian village, Stella is considered an oddity beautiful and smart, insolent and cold Stella uses her peculiar toughness to protect her slower, plainer baby sister Tina from life s harshest realities But she also provokes the ire of her father Antonio a man who demands subservience from women and whose greatest gift to his family is his absence.When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and Tina must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them Soon Stella learns that her survival is worthless without the one thing her family will deny her at any cost her independence.In present day Connecticut, one family member tells this heartrending story, determined to understand the persisting rift between the now elderly Stella and Tina A richly told debut, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is a tale of family transgressions as ancient and twisted as the olive branch that could heal them. Free Download The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna [ by ] Juliet Grames [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr Both Stella Fortuna and her sister Tina are alive today and this fictionalized account is written by a family member It s really Stella s story and it spans one hundred years As you might imagine, a lot happens It begins in a remote mountain village in Calabria, Italy and ends in Connecticut So this is an immigrant story about a family and what a family it is It s a tale about surviving numerous brushes with death as well as poverty both in Italy and the USA It s also about the bond betwee Both Stella Fortuna and her sister Tina are alive today and this fictionalized account is written by a family member It s really Stella s story and it spans one hundred years As you might imagine, a lot happens It begins in a remote mountain village in Calabria, Italy and ends in Connecticut So this is an immigrant st...This was a fantastic read from start to finish.It reminded me a lot of Marquez s A Hundred Years of Solitude from time to time although the magical realism in this one wasn t as dominant.This is the story of an Italian American immigrant family through the character Stella Fortuna and her encounters with danger nearly resulting with her death Starts from a small Italian village in mountains, where Fortuna s struggle to make ends, a poor life in village Then fate takes them to America in it s This was a fantastic read from start to finish.It reminded me a lot of Marquez s A Hundred Years of Solitude from time to time although the magical realism in this one wasn t as dominant.This is the story of an Italian American immigrant family through the character Stella Fortuna and her encounters with danger nearly resulting with her death Starts from a small Italian village in mountains, where Fortuna s struggle to make ends, a poor life in village Then fate takes them to America in it s complicated ways, I really loved this part where decades of the Italian immigrants lives were explored, how much they worked to make America great and what it took to be a citizen.Comparisons between the refugee crises and the people fleeing ww2 from Europe to America were spot onSome Trigger warnings The book tou...I m afraid this book disappointed me for some reasons The opening was very interesting, intriguing, but I was quickly let down afterwards I guess there s a trend with Seven s somehow because there are a few books out there with similar titles It s probably aiming to utilise the hype around Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, or Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Also, the near death experiences was the core of a memoir written by Maggie O Farrell s beautiful I Am I Am I Am So, I m a little con I m afraid this book disappointed me for some reasons The opening was very interesting, intriguing, but I was quickly let down afterwards I guess there s a trend with Seven s somehow because there are a few books out there with similar titles It s probably aiming to utilise the hype around Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, or Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Also, the near death experiences was the core of a memoir written by Maggie O Farrell s beautiful I Am I Am I Am So, I m a little confused about the originality of this book That set aside, I couldn t get along with the writing in this book first of all, as it was from a third person perspective And I think it s one of the hardest to pull off In this case, I didn t think it was successful It was like a chronological order of events rather than an emotional life story It felt very distant an... Many thanks to Ecco for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest reviewShe d been named after her grandmother, which was proper but still Stella and Fortuna Star luck or maybe even lucky star what a terrifying thing to call a little girl There s no better way to bring down the Evil Eye than to brag about your good fortune a name like Stella Fortuna was just asking for trouble And whether or not you believe in the Evil Eye, you have to admit Stella had plenty of trouble I d Many thanks to Ecco for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest reviewShe d been named after her grandmother, which was proper but still Stella and Fortuna Star luck or maybe even lucky star what a terrifying thing to call a little girl There s no better way to bring down the Evil Eye than to brag about your good fortune a name like Stella Fortuna was just asking for trouble And whether or not you believe in the Evil Eye, you have to admit Stella had plenty of trouble I don t like historical fiction I never have Not to say that it s bad I just find it rather pointless to read I, as a reader, like to feel emotions from the books I read, whether that be terror, joy or shock Almost all the historical fiction novels I have read haven t delivered that But this one Oh, boy did it deliver So, what s this book about The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna sheesh, what a mouthful follows well Stella Fortuna from birth, through...Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 starsThis is the story of Mariastella Fortuna the Second, called Stella, formerly of Ievoli, a mountain village of Calabria, Italy, and lately of Connecticut, in the United States of America Her life stretched overthan a century, and during that life she endured much bad luck and hardship This is the story how she never died After reading the opening paragraph which gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is about, I knew I would enjoy this book And I Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 starsThis is the story of Mariastella Fortuna the Second, called Stella, formerly of Ievoli, a mountain village of Calabria, Italy, and lately of Connecticut, in the United States of America Her life stretched overthan a century, and during that life she endured much bad luck and hardship This is the story how she never died After reading the opening paragraph which gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is about, I knew I would enjoy this book And I was right Written as a memoir by a descendant of Stella Fortuna, the story centers around Stella and her family It is a fascinating account of an Italian family adapting to an American way of life in 1940s an...Really enjoyed it Review up soonOh this book I m not even sure where to start I had some doubt when I picked it up to start reading, epic family drama not being in my immediate comfort zone then an hour later I d devoured multiple chapters only emerging when my alarm went off for work That s how it gets you The scene setting is intensely immersive, from the small Italian village to the wider sprawl of America, Juliet Grames descriptive prose puts you right at the heart of the story, it opens up around you with breathtaking Oh this book I m not even sure where to start I had some doubt when I picked it up to start reading, epic family drama not being in my immediate comfort zone then an hour later I d devoured multiple chapters only emerging when my alarm went off for work That s how it gets you The scene setting is intensely immersive, from the small Italian village to the wider sprawl of America, Juliet Grames descriptive prose puts you right at the heart of the story, it opens up around you with breathtakingly beautiful effect.This gorgeous book lives and breathes within the hearts and sometimes dark souls of its characters, the ever expanding Fortuna family, right at the centre of that sits the much haunted, vividly real, spiky and ahead of her time Stella Fortuna.Through the months, years and decades Stella faces every kind of adversity and you are with her every single step of the w...It s brilliantly told in the language sense And also for the eyes cognition of the narrator BUT it s too long and it also invests the author s present day sensibilities and values into the whole, most specifically during the last quarter of the book So much so that the end was occluded almost pathetically sad And it didn t need to be Until the last 100 pages I would have given it a full 4 At the 2 3rds point I would have given it 4.5 in total or maybe even a 5 star It s true to the cu It s brilliantly told in the language sense And also for the eyes cognition of the narrator BUT it s too long and it also invests the author s present day sensibilities and values into the whole, most specifically during the last quarter of the book So much so that the end was occluded almost pathetically sad And it didn t need to be Until the last 100 pages I would have given it a full 4 At the 2 3rds point I would have given it 4.5 in total or maybe even a 5 star It s true to the culture So few books are within miles kilome...I, like many other readers, often crave something refreshingly original to immerse myself in but discovering it with enticing synopsis and then finding it beautifully executed happens incredibly rarely The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, Ms Grames debut novel, right from the get go had my undivided attention, and the further I read the greater the impossibility of being able to put it down became it was then that I knew this was a single sitting page turner and that sleep would have t I, like many other readers, often crave something refreshingly original to immerse myself in but discovering it with enticing synopsis and then finding it beautifully executed happens incredibly rarely The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, Ms Grames debut novel, right from the get go had my undivided attention, and the further I read the greater the impossibility of being able to put it down became it was then that I knew this was a single sitting page turner and that sleep would have to wait.Many writers make the mistake of thinking that there must be a certain number of characters making up the cast of a book but that is far from true What I particularly loved here was that the story centres around one special, or even extraordinary, woman and her Italian American family Her family play the other major roles, or supporting roles, and the rest of the cast play smal...Stella was the second child of Assunta and Antonio Fortuna and the second Stella because the first Mariastella died from influenza when she was an infant.Assunta had a difficult life and a cruel husband He was not nice to her, would leave for months at a time and not send her money, but she survived and did everything herself and took care of her children Assunta didn t have a happy life except for her children.THE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEATHS OF STELLA FORTUNA tells the tale of the lives of the aut Stella was the second child of Assunta and Antonio Fortuna and the second Stella because the first Mariastella died from influenza when she was an infant.Assunta had a difficult life and a cruel husband He was not nice to her, would leave for months at a time and not send her money, but she survived and did everything herself and took care of her children Assunta didn t have a happy life except for her children.THE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEATHS OF STELLA FORTUNA tells the tale of the lives of the author s family and specifically Stella and Tina who were the best of friends as they grew up in Italy and as they aged in America until the final accident happened The accidents that caused Stella to almost die were quite unbelievable Stella was definitely an amazing person to say the least Her mother, Assunta, was also quite remarkable.If...

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
  • English
  • 03 August 2017
  • Paperback
  • 464 pages
  • Juliet Grames
  • The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna