Touchstone, Sep 2004, 13.00
ISBN: 0743255984
In 1953, seven years old Anthony Amedeo lives what he perceives is the good life in his Bronx neighborhood as an only child. His father has a thriving catering business and his stay at home mother dotes on Anthony. Anthony's idyllic childhood changes when his Uncle Malcolm is back behind bars, forcing Aunt Floria and their eight-year-old twin daughters to move into the Amedeo fifth floor apartment; the twins share Anthony's previously private room. Not long afterward, one of the twins falls out a window to her death.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
The tragedy haunts Anthony over the next four plus decades as he not only witnessed the fall of his cousin and never quite got over that first touch of death, his mother and aunt believed he pushed his cousin out the window. Living with that undeclared sentencing by his beloved family, Anthony feels all alone in spite of marriage and success as a chef.
The cast is a Italian-American Bronx family who never look at Anthony the same way after his cousin's death. However, the biggest bearer of misfortune besides the victim is Anthony, who perceives what his loved ones believe of him. This is a character study of the long term consequences of a tragedy.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
