Customer Reviews

A Kiss from Maddalena

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Christopher Castellani's debut novel is a love story in a time of war. Castellani's gift is for storytelling, and his prose is so precise you can smell the dusty air of Santa Cecilia in every sentence. He's so at ease telling the story of Vito's love for Maddalena, that you fall in love with both of them. Castellani has a great sense for story and a great ear for rhythmic prose. I couldn't help wishing against all my 21st Century common sense, for love to work out. This is writing that will stand the test of time. A Kiss From Maddalena, from the title to the conclusion is as measured and suddenly surprising as life itself. If you are a reader who loves to be lost in the tale, here's the first book on your new list.

Much to my delight I have just finished reading A Kiss from Maddalena. It was like taking a journey through time and place where one continually experiences life in a sensual and realistic fashion. The author has created a wonderful story of family that is woven into the tapestry of a small village in war ravaged Italy. The characters remind me of my aunts and uncles and stories told over a big bowl of pasta. Bravo! A wonderfully engaging story that invites the reader to feel the passions and struggles of life and love.

I finished AKFM last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was my incentive to get to bed early for several nights, and it kept me up too late each time! I want to go to Santa Cecilia and the olive grove and I want to eat some of Celestina's soup. Standing under chestnut trees has a whole new meaning for me now. Vito, Maddalena, Carolina, Buccio, Concetta--I can't get over how many characters the author developed and how the story remained true to their time and circumstances. Not just a love story, but a painless history lesson, a celebration of place, and an examination of the power of both passionate and familial love. The prose is cooked just right: al dente, with plenty of rich dialogue on top. This is a novel where you get your money's worth.

Christopher Castellani has written the tale of a love that is haunted by fate. His hero, Vito is, a quixotic young man who has remained at home during wartime to care for his ailing mother. He is a bit of a misfit, a somewhat awkward, goofy, gangly romantic. The story starts with a scheme he comes up with to get Maddalena, whom he has loved forever to kiss him. The scheme doesn't work out the way he planned, but he does get to kiss most of the girls in the village. Maddalena does come to fall in love with him, although she knows that her family will never accept Vito as a husband for her. She is their treasure, the youngest and most beautiful of their daughters and they want her to make a good marriage. The destitute Vito does not qualify as an eligible suitor. Vito's mother, in her lucid moments, feels resentment for Maddalena's family because of their condescension toward her son. Nevertheless, both Maddalena and Vito feel that they are destined to be together, that love will find a way. And Vito really tries to find a way. When Maddalena's family leaves the village for the country to escape from the fleeing German army, Vito remains behind to care for his mother, and in a sense, save the village. They make plans to communicate during Maddalena's absence and to keep their love alive. A series of fateful events overtake the lovers, culminating in a surprising ending to the story, that is really fitting if you think about it. An unforgettable story that will haunt you with the unexpected twists of fate that affect the lives of all the people whose lives touch those of Vito and Maddalena. You will want to read it again to pick up clues to the ending. Maddalena's fate is also a reminder of the position of a woman in 1940's Italy whose life decisions were largely outside her control and that great beauty does not always provide a path to happiness.

What starts as a simple, sweet and poetic tale of young love develops into a achingly complex, truthful and bittersweet commentary on social roles, family expectations, and happiness unfulfilled. Beautiful, clear prose and a compelling narrative make this book tough to put down. Highly recommended.

I love to read, but I am a full-time grandmother and I don't often get the time.My girlfriend told me I HAD to read this book and so I ordered it a few weeks ago. I just got it this week and I already finished it! I could NOT put this book down! I have never been lucky enough to travel overseas, and the most Italian thing in my part of the country is the Olive Garden, but this book really made me feel like I was IN Italy. The stories about WWII in the book made the war now seem more real, like I could see how much it can destroy people's lives and at the same time bring them closer together too. I won't give the ending away, but I was crying my eyes out. I wish movies were this good!

A KISS FROM MADDALENA captures love and reality in World War II Italy and the years immediately following the war. We meet the young Vito Leone who is madly in love with the beautiful Maddalena Piccineli, the youngest daughter of the village's storekeeper. At first, Maddalena wants nothing to do with the loveable, yet goofy Vito. Vito is hardly handsome, has a limited future, and is considered too much of a mama's boy. Besides, her parents want their favorite daughter to marry someone more worthy of her love than Vito. Gradually she sees the charm of this genuinely good young man. The war separates the two, and changes after the war test the couple. The characters are so well developed, and the details of the story are so vivid, the reader immediately is drawn into the work. Maddalena has to make very important choices in the novel. If she marries the man her parents prefer, she will risk losing their love, but doing so would crush Vito. The reader wonders which way she will go, will she marry the man she loves and hurt her parents, or will she hurt Vito?

The two main characters of the book are real flesh and blood people, and the reader cannot help but love them both. Readers will immediately develop a soft spot for Vito; he is the epitome of goodness. He unselfishly cares for his mentally ill mother even though it means putting his own life and ambitions on hold, he will do anything for anyone, and he deserves to be loved by someone as good as Maddalena. Readers will sympathize with Maddalena as well, a girl who wants to please everyone yet also wants to be happy. Throughout the work readers will hope that she is able to follow her heart.

Though the book is an old fashioned love story, it is never sentimental, and it does not follow conventional twists. It is realistic in the way it depicts World War II and the conflicts in Italy after the overthrow of Mussolini. The village of Santa Cecelia, where most of the action takes place, is the sort of village most people would imagine in a remote section of Italy, and it has a certain Old World charm, yet the interactions of the people in the village show that it is not necessary Italy's version of heaven on earth. Conflicts develop which give the village a realistic flair.

In the dedication page of the novel, the author dedicates the book to his parents, calling it his love letter to them. Judging from the exquisite writing of these pages, combined with lovable characters, historical accuracy, and a memorable plot, the reader can make one conclusion. Christopher Castellani must deeply love his parents.

Excellent Book. The writer made me feel like I was a fly on the wall in the lives of these people. I feel that is the best thing a writer can do. He did a good job of making me feel like I was in this village, I could see these places. I could understand why the people were doing the things they did. I never once thought that someone did something that was out of character for them just to bring drama or move the story along. This writer's debut is very promising. I look forward to other books by him.

Great book! It begins slowly and simply, introducing us to the simple lives of the villagers of Santa Cecilia, and to Vito and Maddalena, all of whom become a part of our own lives. The story builds until you reach the point at which you can't set it down, but you dread having it end.

What does that happen with, one in fifty books?

This new novelist first effort is engaging. It is not a romance novel, yet there is much romance. It is not a war novel, yet there is much war, both as a story backdrop and among believable characters. It is not an action-thriller novel, yet there is sufficient action within the dialogue and structure to keep the reader turning pages. The style moves the book, propels it from a dark beginning to a surprising ending. Witness chapter headings: The Bike, The Tank, The Carriage, The Procession, The Car and The Boat. And that, fundamentally, is what this book is about. It is a good love story of people moving their lives to survive. It reminded me of To A White Sea by James Dickey.
The book graphically is wonderful! Pleasant typeface, nice paper stock, great cover. Kudos to Algonquin Books. And, to writer Christopher Castellani, grazie!