The Saint of Lost Things: A Novel - Softcover

Castellani, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616207779 ISBN 13: 9781616207779

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2005

Synopsis

It is 1953 in the tight-knit Italian neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware. Maddalena Grasso has lost her country, her family, and the man she loved by coming to America; her mercurial husband, Antonio, has lost his opportunity to realize the American Dream; their new friend, Guilio Fabbri, a shy accordion player, has lost his beloved parents. In the shadow of St. Anthony’s Church, named for the patron saint of lost things, the prayers of these troubled but determined people are heard, and fate and circumstances conspire to answer them in unforeseeable ways. With great authenticity and immediacy, The Saint of Lost Things evokes a bittersweet time in which the world seemed more intimate and knowable, and the American Dream simpler, nobler, and within reach.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

It is 1953 in the tight-knit Italian neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware. In the shadow of St. Anthony's Church, named for the patron staint of lost things, lives the Grasso family. Young Maddalena, a seamstress pregnant with her first child, misses the rolling hills and olive groves of the small Italian town where she was born and longs for her sisters and her mother and father—all so distant, so far away from America. Maddalena's mercurial husband, Antonio, feels lucky to be in the land of opportunity and dreams only of opening his own restaurant, until he becomes unwittingly embroiled in his friends' vengeful plot against a neighbor.

Down the street from the Grassos lives Giulio Fabbri, a shy accordion player, still single at forty, who's lost his beloved parents and has dreams of his own: to leave the shelter of his childhod home and reinvent himself.

When Maddalena falls dangerously ill and Antonio's and Giulio's faith is challenged, the prayers of these troubled but steadfast people are heard, and fate and circumstances conspire to answer them in unforeseeable ways.

With great affection and a profound understanding of human frailty and perseverance, Christopher Castellani brings to life a bittersweet time when the world seemed more intimate and knowable, and the American Dream simpler, nobler, and within reach.

About the Author

Christopher Castellani has published two previous novels with Algonquin—A Kiss from Maddalena, which won the Massachusetts Books Award for Fiction; and The Saint of Lost Things. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, where he is the artistic director of Grub Street, the Boston-based non-profit creative writing center. Author website: www.christopher castellani.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1616207779
• ISBN 13: 9781616207779
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 330