Becoming Mariella
A Novel
Janet Constantino
- For
- fans
- of
- Elena
- Ferrante’s
- The
- Lying
- Life
- of
- Adults
- and
- Jean
- Kwok’s
- Girl
- in
- Translation
- comes
- a
- contemporary
- coming-of-age
- tale
- about
- a
- young
- Italian
- immigrant’s
- desperate
- journey
- to
- find
- her
- personal
- freedom.It’s
- unprecedented,
- even
- in
- the
- twenty-first
- century,
- for
- a
- young
- Sicilian
- woman
- to
- defy
- the
- centuries-old
- mandate,
- “Family
- is
- everything!”—but
- twenty-two-year-old
- Mariella
- Russo
- is
- desperate
- to
- escape
- Sicily.
- She’s
- being
- relentlessly
- coerced
- into
- an
- engagement
- with
- her
- wealthy
- college
- sweetheart—a
- young
- man
- from
- a
- prominent,
- powerful
- family—by
- her
- envious
- and
- erratic
- mother,
- who
- hopes
- the
- match
- will
- increase
- her
- own
- ignominious
- social
- status.
- Suddenly,
- Mariella’s
- lifelong
- home
- has
- become
- a
- claustrophobic
- island.
- In
- a
- bid
- for
- independence
- and
- an
- attempt
- to
- escape
- entrapment,
- she
- flees
- to
- San
- Francisco.But
- Mariella’s
- bête
- noire—entrapment—follows
- her
- to
- San
- Francisco,
- where
- everyone
- wants
- more
- from
- her
- than
- she
- wants
- to
- give.
- Her
- American
- roommate,
- Leslie,
- turns
- out
- to
- be
- a
- gay
- man
- rather
- than
- the
- woman
- she
- imagined;
- her
- employer/lover
- is
- pressuring
- her
- to
- live
- with
- him;
- and
- her
- neurotic
- mother
- is
- haunting
- her,
- wreaking
- havoc
- and
- embarrassment.
- An
- urgent
- return
- trip
- to
- Sicily
- puts
- Mariella
- to
- the
- ultimate
- challenge:
- will
- she
- submit
- to
- tradition,
- or
- choose
- a
- life
- she
- wants
- for herself?
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