About this item
Highlights
- A fiery explosion in the sulfur mine kills his father leaving 5 year old Aspanu head of his family.
- Author(s): Louis Romano
- 308 Pages
- Social Science, Emigration & Immigration
- Series Name: Heritage Collections
Description
About the Book
A fiery explosion in the sulfur mine leaves 5 year-old Aspanu head of his family. His mother signs papers saying he will now work in the 100+ degree mines to pay off their debt. Civil unrest ensues as people are fed up with unfair labor practices & hold clandestine meetings to stage a defensive riot. Backlash looms when the mine owners find out.Book Synopsis
A fiery explosion in the sulfur mine kills his father leaving 5 year old Aspanu head of his family. His mother struggles as she is faced with signing his life away as an indentured servant, saying he will now work in the 100+ degree mines to pay off their debt. When the townspeople see no real change in their working conditions regarding their safety, and the people are fed up with unfair labor practices, they hold clandestine meetings to stage a massive riot in the square. Civil unrest boils and comes to a head. Impending, dangerous backlash looms when the mine owners find out. Aspanu's mother's 'connections' warn her to not be in the square when the riot takes place, and she in turn tells her son, but he doesn't listen. Screams, dark clouds of explosives, thunderous noise, and dead bodies line the streets. One of the bodies is someone who Aspanu loved dearly. Emmigrating to America, he tries to forget his heart-breaking past and make a new life for himself. He learns a lot about the values we all hold dear, and where the church, the mafia, and freinds and family fit in to that picture.
Review Quotes
Carusi: The Shame of Sicily represents a slice of life story about late 1800s Sicily and reviews the life of a young "carusi" miner who, at 5 years old, becomes an indentured servant and new head of his family when his father is killed in a mining accident. Aspanu leads a dangerous and demanding life in the small Sicilian mining town: one which holds him financially and emotionally in thrall.
Destined to work the mines to pay off family debt, Aspanu becomes caught up in the revolt of miners who have had enough of deadly working conditions and poverty, becoming embroiled in an uprising which attacks almost everything he holds dear in life.
Carusi is steeped in the sights, smells, and sounds of Sicily and follows Aspanu's social and political awakening as he evolves from a poor miner into an activist. These moments embrace cultural, spiritual, and social traditions and impart a "you are there" feel to events by recreating bygone years and Sicily's atmosphere: "At dawn on Christmas morning, a small band traveled throughout the town playing Christmas songs in front of the votive niches, all decorated with fragrant bay leaves. The music sounded the commemoration of the birth of Jesus. Soon, the aroma of fresh baked bread and fried zeppoli, filled the small streets and alleys of Lercara. Aspanu and Carlo woke at five as usual. Carlo dressed, had his usual breakfast consisting of a cup of sheep's milk and some bread. Aspanu had some milk, a small piece of pecorino cheese and some olives from the family tree."
From overseer Modica's treatment of men who are beaten like animals to older beauty Nina Miceli's role as an attractive accomplice, Aspanu navigates this world and makes choices that, in one day, change his life; crippling his friend, killing others, and granting him his greatest wish: freedom from the mines.
One might think that this story would paint a quick background of Sicily and then move to new opportunities in America for the remainder of Aspanu's story; but this powerful saga not only has its roots in Sicilian culture, but focuses and expands upon events that change the course of Aspanu's values, choices, and life.
There is nothing hasty or singular about this approach, which takes its time to portray a myriad of social pressures, from labor issues, tragedies, and rapidly-dying townspeople, to carusi who dare to dream of forbidden love, freedom, and change.
Carusi: The Shame of Sicily is about shame, redemption, peasant uprisings, love and hate, and mafia roots and influences. No prior familiarity with Sicilian history and culture is needed to enjoy this vivid novel. Louis Romano presents all the background needed to absorb Aspanu's life and times and weaves a compelling saga of those who sell their souls to live and those who live to save their souls.