| Nella Castellucas is an Italian-American girl living on a farm outside of Philadelphia in the early 1900's. She longs to go to high school and be a teacher. However, she must quit school at 15 to help support her family. She goes to work in a blouse factory. At 16, the owner of the factory taps her to be a forelady, because she is so smart and hardworking. She falls in love with the smartest and most goodlooking boy in town, but he leaves her to pursue his dreams elsewhere. She marries a man who works with her in the factory. They save their money and open up a blouse factory of their own. When her husband dies at 50 years old, she realizes that she has worked too hard all her life. She sells the factory and moves back to the farm.
The book gives a description of what it was like to grow up in an Italian-American community. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Ethnic/Regional/Religion Other aspects: Poverty, surviving Yes Kind of living: - general poverty story Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - long lived adults Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - society Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Europe Yes European country: - Italy Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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