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A hundred years ago, in the legendary mining towns of Silverton and Durango, racial tensions among American immigrants had reached a fever pitch. Salone Italiano is a lavash account of one Italian family's struggles, passions, and adventures as outsiders in a strange new land. Based on actual letters written by members of the family. We experience Angelina Sartore's confused attempts to bring her family closer together. But Katie Sartore continues a forbidden romance with a member of a rival immigrant colony, and Phis Sartore continues a love affair with a well-known local prostitute. So, this is a family imbedded in constant turmoil. The story shows what life was like for European immigrants in a Colorado mining town. The reader will witness the lives of some of those who were most intimately involved.
The most distinctive feature of the book is its reliance on a "miracle find"-over 150 original letters hidden in an attic in Rivarolo, Canavese, Italy. These letters provide a rare "double perspective." Most immigrant stories are told only from the perspective of those who left. This book includes the voices of those who went to America and those loved ones who stayed behind, desperate for news, money, and connection.
The Geography of Struggle: From the Alps to the RockiesThe book tracks a specific migration path from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.
While Louis Sartore was the business visionary, Angelina Giordano Sartore is the emotional heart of the book.
The book reaches a fever pitch with the story of Peter Dalla, a man loved by Katie but despised by her mother. His sudden and suspicious death, which many in the community believed was a murder, is a pivotal moment that explores the dark side of the immigrant feuds. Niemann uses court records and family whispers to reconstruct a tragedy...a murder that was never solved.
Societal Shifts: Prohibition and the Great DepressionThe family's journey is a microcosm of American history:
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