The Black Madonna: A Novel [Hardcover]

Louisa Ermelino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2001

The Black Madonna has long protected her mountain villagers in southern Italy, and some say she followed her people to America. What else explains the magic and miracles on Spring Street in Little Italy over the decades?

Teresa, whose son Nicky should never have walked again after his four-story fall, keeps a holy card of the Black Madonna hidden beneath her underwear. Magdalena, beautiful and mysterious, can make any man fall in love with her, including her stepson Salvatore, by praying secretly to an image of the Black Madonna in her attic. And Antoinette, after giving birth to five girls, had Jumbo, the biggest baby Spring Street ever saw -- once she had the Black Madonna's portrait in her kitchen.

Vibrant, dark-souled creatures who get their way, control their lives, and pass on arcane knowledge like family heirlooms from generation to generation, Teresa, Magdalena, and Antoinette, with their intersecting lives, take center stage in The Black Madonna. This is an exploration of how each woman, and her beloved son, is forever changed by the Madonna of Viggiano. Louisa Ermelino's wonderful novel reveals a delicious truth: that it is the Italian-American women who hold the secrets -- and the power -- from the "other side," and that they know how to use them.

A celebration of mother love and magic, The Black Madonna is filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and taste of Little Italy. Ultimately, it is a vibrant and life-affirming saga that all Americans will want to embrace as their own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Never mind the Mafia; it's the mamas you have to watch out for. At least that's what Ermelino would have you believe in her zesty debut novel about life in New York's Little Italy from the '40s through the '60s. In an old-fashioned neighborhood where the people who have surrounded you all your life can be depended on to behave in predictable ways, a group of women gather nightly on a Spring Street stoop, mothers willing to protect their children at all costs. There's Teresa, whose young son Nicky loses the power to walk following an accident, only to miraculously regain it at the funeral of the father who abandoned him; Magdalena, the siren from the Old Country, married to an older man with "connections"; and Antoinette, mother to Jumbo, the largest bambino (at approximately 23 pounds) that Spring Street has ever seen. These women all believe strongly in fate, but when fate needs a little shove, they're more than willing to provide it, particularly when Jumbo, now grown, takes up with a nice Jewish girl. All the women pray to the eponymous black-faced Madonna, a famous statue in Viggiano, Italy, and some see their prayers answered. Ermelino catches the earthy voices of her Italian-American blue-collar paisanos, and she weaves a fast-moving plot that makes up for its thinness with atmospheric detail. Though essentially more a collection of vignettes than a novel, the warmth and humor of this slice-of-lives storytelling are seductive. Agent, Elaine Markson. (Mar.)Forecast: With blurbs from, among others, Fay Weldon, Susan Isaacs and Vincent Patrick, this novel should garner reviewer and reader attention. That Ermelino still lives in Manhattan's Little Italy could prove a useful publicity hook and, if tapped into, her media experience--with TV's Top Cops, at Time and People, and currently at In Style, where she's a reporter--will help sell books. Featuring great roles for character actresses, this engaging novel has TV sitcom potential.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Ermelino injects warm, good-natured emotions into a colorful tale of Italian-Americans in the middle of the last century. Families who live in New York City's Spring Street tenements share their love for good food, family ties, and gossip on the front stoop. In special cases, mystical prayers for intercession to the Black Madonna emanate from three powerful women, Teresa, Antoinette, and Magdalena. They share their stories against this backdrop, with all of the humor, sadness, and everyday miracles typical of life. The women focus all of their energy, ambitions, love, and forays into magical prayers and supplications on their sons, or, in Magdalena's case, stepson. These young men, in turn, share their adventures with all of the intertwinings such close proximity implies. The author conjures up details of tenement life, and her female characters are unique yet still able to represent the quintessential portrait of the widow. The young men are just as individual, especially as they become adults, each seeking his own way, yet still tied to his mother, his culture, and the neighborhood in which he was raised. Capturing an era, the specific locale, and the ethnic force of these people, Ermelino provides a glimpse into another time and place with a touch of magical realism in the presence of the Black Madonna.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684871661
• ISBN-13: 978-0684871660
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,420,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bella, Bella, March 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Madonna: A Novel (Hardcover)

Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. This tale of three mothers and their sons set in Little Italy is heartwarming, touching and funny. The characters are so finely drawn that you truly feel like you know them and because the stories intertwine over a period of years each time someone pops back in the story its like seeing a friend you haven't seen in years. Just a wonderful read. I highly recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what you call a good read, May 14, 2001

By 

Jane Fishman "Jane Fishman" (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Black Madonna: A Novel (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I read it during a 20-hour bus ride, keeping my above-the-seat light on well into the night. Not so much to see what would happen (although you really don't know that until the last pages); more because I just wasn't ready to say good-night to the characters. This is the best part: Unlike many books I read, the ending was just as good as the beginning. I'll read more of her books.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BLACK MADONNA, April 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Madonna: A Novel (Hardcover)

Ermelino's fresh and gorgeous writing brings to life a host of characters drawn so clearly I became caught up in each and everyone of their lives. She is a rare writer. I've never come across anyone tell such a rich story. It's uncluttered, devoid of trivial descriptions and robust with energy and all that is intensely human. When I was reading this book I felt like I hadn't really read a book in years, all the other books I had read in the past didn't compare to hers. I'll remember THE BLACK MADONNA forever - for the writing, for the characters and for the unique elements which this writer chose to move her story forward. I'm excited to read all that this writer has written and I know I'll be reading whatever else she writes in the future. I hope her next one comes out soon!