The Madonna of the Mountains

For her fiction debut, Valmorbida (author of the nonfiction collection The Book of Happy Endings) crafts a convincing if familiar portrait of an Italian woman’s struggle to ensure her family’s survival. Maria Vittoria’s story begins in 1923 in the Veneto countryside. At 25, she prays for a husband; her only previous romantic experience is a cousin’s attempt to kiss her. When she weds, Maria experiences a painful wedding night with husband Achille, who turns abusive. Despite marital difficulties, political repression, and wartime tribulations, Maria and Achille build a thriving grocery and growing family—and then Achille is arrested, leaving Maria to manage business and household. Her cousin, now in the militia, helps her—for a price. Her five children also help, but hard times reduce Maria to hunting lizards for food and stealing money. Fascists, partisans, Nazis, and Americans pass through while Maria prays and dreams about emigration. Valmorbida tracks the domestic power shift over a quarter-century from Achille to Maria and from one generation to the next. Details add authenticity: a doll on the railroad tracks; a madwoman in the wild; silkworms in the attic. Recipes for rolling tender gnocchi, using sardines to make polenta last, torturing enemies with oil or salt—they’re all part of life in this winning novel about on tradition, hardship, and resolve. (June)