Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Witch of Little Italy

Title: The Witch of Little Italy Author: Suzanne Palmieri Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pages: 320

From Amazon:
In Suzanne Palmieri’s charming debut, The Witch of Little Italy, you will be bewitched by the Amore women. When young Eleanor Amore finds herself pregnant, she returns home to her estranged family in the Bronx, called by “The Sight” they share now growing strong within her. She has only been back once before when she was ten years old during a wonder-filled summer of sun-drenched beaches, laughter and cartwheels. But everyone remembers that summer except her. Eleanor can’t remember anything from before she left the house on her last day there. With her past now coming back to her in flashes, she becomes obsessed with recapturing those memories. Aided by her childhood sweetheart, she learns the secrets still haunting her magical family, secrets buried so deep they no longer know how they began. And, in the process, unlocks a mystery over fifty years old—The Day the Amores Died—and reveals, once and for all, a truth that will either heal or shatter the Amore clan.

I devoured this book. It drew me in from page one and I could not put it down. I loved it. A story of family, of mothers and daughters, of coming home. Palmieri melds the supernatural and the everyday world into a totally believable story. Both heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is the story of Elly, who has no memory of her childhood and comes to her long-lost grandmother's front steps in the Bronx, pregnant and on the run from an abusive lover. She is taken in by her grandmother and two great aunts, all old-world practicing witches with the sight. How did Elly lose her memory in this very house so long ago? And what happened on a fateful day in 1945 that caused half a large, loving family to disappear from the earth? Stories like this are why I love to read. I highly recommend this one. Read it.

Read this book if...
*you love stories of mothers and daughters
*you love family sagas
* you love stories with a touch of supernatural
*you love stories that take place in NYC


1 comment:

  1. This sounds like the perfect choice for Halloween!
    Have you ever read The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman? It is a family story with a touch of the supernatural too. :)

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