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| Christine Simolke, Author CHILDREN OF ITALY |
Christine Simolke, the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, brings
us CHILDREN OF ITALY, a story about the immigrant experience of a family in
America. Simolke grew up hearing stories from her grandmother about leaving the
country where she was born and moving to a new world. Her grandmother inspired her to write a book when she interviewed her for a research paper in graduate school.
Simolke is a former middle
school language arts teacher. She lives with her husband in North Carolina, and
enjoys spending time with husband, family and friends; reading; cooking, and
working out. She also does volunteer work. She is working on a
continuation of the immigrant Italian family from her book and has also written an historical middle grade novel.
Q: Why did you choose
to set your story in 1924? What appeals to you about setting your story in the
past?
Christine Simolke: The
novel was inspired by my Italian grandmother’s immigrant story. I choose 1924
as it was the last year that Ellis Island was used as the primary entry to the
United States for European immigrants.
Q: How do you make
events occurring in 1924 relevant to contemporary readers?
Christine Simolke: Many
of the events in the story are timeless as the characters deal with problems we
all face including betrayal, longing, adjusting to new situations, struggling
to figure out who we are and our place in the world, discrimination, and the
importance love and family.
Q: Would you
categorize CHILDREN OF ITALY as primarily a romance? Or…?
Christine Simolke: It’s
an historical novel that would fall into the category of family saga as it
tells the story of the immigrant experience with a focus on one family as they
assimilate into a new country while dealing with the issues of infidelity, a
marriage marred by years of separation, young love and various forms of
discrimination. It does have romance, but it’s not primarily a romance novel.
Q: Why do readers
care about your characters? Do you have to be an Italian immigrant to relate to
them?
Christine Simolke: You
don’t have to be an Italian immigrant to relate to the characters because their
problems/triumphs are universal. Readers will relate to their experiences of
love, heartache, disappointment, transgression, and happiness. The characters
are well-intentioned, but flawed, especially Luigi, the father. He’s made many
sacrifices to bring his family to America, but his infidelity has a profound
effect on his family. His wife and daughters, especially Giovanna, experience
new & renewed feelings of love and I think readers will root for them to
find happiness.
Q: What kind of
research did you do to assure historical accuracy?
Christine Simolke: I read
extensively on the Italian-American immigrant experience and the time period,
including the history of Italy and America in the late 19th and early 20th
century. I also relied on the stories told to me by my Italian-American
grandmother, and her sisters, which I documented over several decades.
Q: Did you write
CHILDREN OF ITALY to entertain readers and/or did you embed a few key messages?
What do you want readers to take away from your book?
Christine Simolke: I hope
CHILDREN OF ITALY will entertain readers as the story takes many turns, but
I’ve also touched on the issue of discrimination in several forms, the price of
infidelity on a marriage and a family, and the adventure of beginning a new
life and falling in love. I hope readers will understand a little better the
immigrant experience and the sacrifices made by those brave souls who left
everything behind to form our wonderful country.
Q: Does the concept
of heroes vs. villains apply to CHILDREN OF ITALY? If so, what are the traits
of an effective hero? A villain? Are heroes and villains relatable to readers?
Christine Simolke: There
are definitely heroes and villains in CHILDREN OF ITALY, but they are more of
the multilayered variety than your straight-forward comic book variety.
I
think the traits of an effective hero/villain are that they aren’t all good or
all bad. The notion that a hero has flaws and a villain has at least one
attribute that allows the reader to sympathize with him/her is what makes them relatable, as we’re all a
mixture of positive and negative qualities.
Q: How helpful is
humor to develop your characters or to tell your story?
Christine Simolke: The
characters use humor to cheer one another in dire circumstances and as a way to
enjoy/entertain each other.
Q: What’s next? Will
you write another historical novel?
Christine Simolke: I’m
working on a continuation of the Falconi family’s story and I’ve written an
historical middle grade novel.
Q: Tell us about
Christine Simolke. What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?
Christine Simolke: I’m a
former middle school language arts teacher. I love to spend time with my
husband, family & friends; read, cook, and work-out to counter act all the
Italian & Mexican food I love to eat! I’m also involved in volunteer work
in my community.
Thank you for the opportunity
to be featured on your blog!
About Christine Simolke
Christine
Simolke is the granddaughter of Italian immigrants. She was inspired by
her grandmother’s life story to write a novel of the immigrant experience.
She has traveled to countries all over the world and is thankful that her
ancestors chose to settle in the United States. She is a former language arts
teacher and currently resides in North Carolina with her husband. They are the
parents of two wonderful young men. When she is not writing, she's active in
non-profit work.
The
idea for her book, CHILDREN OF ITALY was formed many years ago when she wrote
a research paper in graduate school based on an interview with her grandmother,
Giovanna and stories her great aunt, Evelina told her. Her grandmother and her
family immigrated from Italy to America in the 1920's, and Christine and her
family were always fascinated by the stories of their voyage to America and
their early life in the United States. Their tale of hope, struggle,
perseverance and love of family has been an inspiration to all of the
generations after them.
About CHILDREN OF ITALY
Against
the backdrop of the early 20th century, as millions of immigrants pour through
the doors of Ellis Island in search of the American Dream, Italian immigrant,
Luigi Falconi, works as a coal miner to carve out what he hopes will be a
better life for his family, who remain in Italy. Soon he will be with them
again, but a dark cloud threatens to ruin all he has struggled to accomplish.
After twelve years apart, his wife, and three daughters leave Italy to join him
in America. Luigi looks forward to their arrival with anticipation, but first
he must end his affair with the troubled Isolde, who cannot accept that he has
never loved her. Luigi is all she has, and she plots to keep him.
While on board
the SS Roma as it sails to Ellis Island, Luigi’s eldest daughter, Giovanna,
begins a romance with Alessandro, a dashing member of the crew. When he
immigrates to America a short time after their voyage, intent on reuniting with
her, she and her family have vanished. As the Falconi family struggles to
assimilate in America, Alessandro perseveres in his hunt for Giovanna. His
search intersects with the bitter Isolde’s efforts to win Luigi back, with
heartbreaking and surprising consequences for all of them.
Excerpt Chapter 1
March 1924
All men have regrets. Luigi Falconi had only
one. The guilt from it had robbed him of many a good night’s sleep. His
transgression couldn’t be undone, but he could sweep it under the rug. He would
begin tonight with a clean slate, as the Americans liked to say.
He
wanted to be the husband his wife, Appollonia, deserved. The father his
daughters needed. Their years of being apart were over. His family was leaving
Italy to join him in America. The thought of their arrival in New York in nine
days filled him with hope. His dream of a good life for his family in a new
country was becoming a reality. He had worked for twelve arduous years to
fulfill his promise to them, but one more thing had to be done before their
arrival.
In
the room above the ristorante, Luigi laid next to Isolde. Her body radiated
heat, like the embers glowing in the fireplace. He wiped his face with his
calloused hands and sat up in the sleigh bed, tracing his finger over the
intricate carving etched in the headboard as if it would give him the words he
needed to say. Coal dust blackened his nails, though he had washed in the
porcelain basin on her dresser. A trace of black powder always remained, no
matter how hard he scrubbed. He
closed his hand into a fist.
“This is our last night together,” he
said, his voice stern and commanding.
The
words hung in the air over her bed, where a shadow stretched from the candle’s
flame on the nightstand. Isolde opened her eyes. They were dark and vacant like
those of the black rat snake that Luigi had seen coiled in back of the woodpile.
“I wish it could be different, but don’t
worry. I won’t make any trouble for you.”
When
she sat up beside him, the light of the moon beamed through the window behind
her. She wrapped the blanket they shared around her shoulders like an open
cloak, and her dark, tousled hair framed her solemn face and cascaded across
her breasts. She reached up to run her fingers through his hair.
“I’m
meeting my family next weekend in New York,” he said in Italian, as if to
emphasize they were coming from the old country.
“I
know,” she answered, without taking her eyes from his.
The blanket fell from her bare
shoulders, and he looked away.
She
touched his face and turned it toward her. “Stay with me tonight,”
He
had never allowed himself the intimacy of sleeping all night with her or any
other woman he had used as a substitute for his wife.
She
kissed his neck and then his shoulder. “Don’t go yet,” she whispered. Her
beautiful body illuminated by the moonlight mesmerized him, and when she moved
her lips from his neck to his chest, he lay back on the soft pillow and closed
his eyes.
Links
Purchase Links
malaprops.com (Asheville,
NC bookstore)
Author
sites
