Straddling the Borders: The Year I Grew Up in Italy

Now a retired school teacher, Cummings spent a very special year in Italy, getting in touch with her heritage, when she was 27 years old. Referring to herself as ""Jo,"" she explains that, as the youngest in her family, she was the only grandchild never to see her maternal grandfather, a Sicilian who came to the U.S. in the late 1880s and died before she was born. Determined to learn Italian before trying to meet her Sicilian relatives, Jo registered for classes at the University for Foreigners in Perugia. With great warmth, she describes the friends she made during this time, including Max, a young German classmate who took her on a trip to his homeland, and ""Mamma,"" the landlady who taught her how to make pesto. While in Perugia, Jo was nearly a victim of date rape, but this unfortunate experience was happily overshadowed by a later love affair with a young Sicilian. After her classes ended, Jo traveled throughout Italy with her sister and later took her mother to visit their relatives in Sicily. Cummings has the ability to evoke the mouthwatering tastes and vivid sights of Italy, a country she clearly loves. This memoir of her Italian days is by turns touching and humorous. (June)