The Almond Picker : A Novel (original 2002; edition 2006)

Tra ieri e oggi ho letto 50 pagine non solo con fatica, ma proprio con un rifiuto totale. Stasera ero come una farfalla senza posa e alla fine ho deciso che nessuno mi obbligava. Non mi prende la storia, non mi piace la scrittura, mi innervosisce l'atmosfera.
Ho letto le recensioni, qualcuno dice che ha fatto fatica a iniziare ma poi è bello... io semplicemente non riesco a proseguire.

subtle and powerful woman faced with gross injustice in Sicilyi ( )

Beautifully drawn lives in a small village - all the interconnections, suspicions, age-old things that make up the fabric of the relationships. Set in Sicily. And a nice mysterious twist... ( )

Sicily, 1963. Maria Rosalia Inzerillo, the almond picker--Mennulara, in Sicilian--has just died. Through a series of short chapters from the points of view of the inhabitants of Roccacolomba, the small village in Sicily where Mennulara lived and served, a complex portrait of the woman emerges. Mennulara is a study in contradictions. Uneducated but well-read. Coarse yet cultured. Reviled, adored, misunderstood, she was a maid who also managed the estates--and ran the lives of--the family she worked for, and has exerted an influence upon a great many of the inhabitants of Roccacolomba and the surrounding countryside.

As the portrait of Mennulara is painted, so is a portrait of Sicily during a time of change. Modern times are encroaching, globalization (before the term was even invented) has begun, and small town life will never be the same. But in the end, it is Mennulara whom we finally come to know, and the secret we learn, the key that unlocks the mystery that she was, is simple and sublime.

The Almond Picker is a small, beautifully wrought gem of a novel. Its simple language, with humor and insight, brings to life a time long past and the people who lived in it.

http://tinyurl.com/5wdmj9

I wonder how many books are about maids, or at least books in which maids figure prominently. The servant in this story dies seconds before the tale begins, making for an intriguing beginning. Mennulara has taken care of the Alfallipe family in Sicily for years, but she was no ordinary maid, and her life is told in fits and starts as the novel progresses.

Which I guess is my main criticism of it. For more than half the story, we only hear from the villagers guessing who Mennulara really was. I understand Agnello Hornby has to set up different perspectives and different aspects to Mennulara's life, but it makes the tale a little boring. In addition, there are SO many villagers, it's easy to lose track of who is who and who hates Mennulara and who likes her.

So, I guess my advice is to read this book fast (which is completely do-able) and don't do what I did which was put it down for another book for a month or so. The ending is worth it, and this strategy should make it easier to keep a handle on what's happening. ( )