The Saint of Lost Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: The Saint of Lost Things, Christmas Eve, Santa Cecilia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Castellani explores the lives of Italian-American immigrants in this eloquent, leisurely tale about dreams and disappointments, a follow-up to his debut novel, A Kiss from Maddalena. Here, Castellani picks up Maddalena Grasso's story in 1953, when she is seven years settled in Wilmington, Del., but "always crying, always looking backward." She left her beloved Italian village for America, imagining that she and her new husband, Antonio, would live the American dream, but Antonio's ambition of owning a restaurant remains just out of reach, and beautiful Maddalena, once an aspiring actress and model, now sews piecework, pining for the family she left behind. Maddalena befriends Guilio, a lonely, middle-aged accordion player mired in grief since the death of his elderly parents, and they eventually help each other find the courage to move past their own regrets. (She finds hope in a long-awaited pregnancy, though she will face a difficult labor.) By structuring much of the novel in flashback—albeit to reflect Maddalena's mentality—Castellani slows the story's momentum, but the natural, easy beauty of his prose captures the Italian-American immigrant community of a bygone era.
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–It is 1953, and Maddalena Grasso, newly arrived in the United States from Italy, is trying to make sense of the language, the customs, and her place in her new, extended family. Her perpetually dissatisfied husband, Antonio, yearns for the American Dream: shiny new car, new home, and children. Having convinced the beautiful Maddalena to marry him and leave her family behind, he now watches over her jealously. He feels a mixture of contempt and envy for his brother, who seems perfectly happy with his average wife, nondescript daughters, and job managing a restaurant. While Maddalena tries to keep Antonio grounded in the simpler joys of the life they share, an adventurous and single childhood friend lures him with promises of easy riches. Maddalena befriends a middle-aged single man who has recently lost both parents. Giulio Fabbri is drifting through life, but as his friendship with the Grassos deepens, he comes to understand himself and his dreams better. Threading through the various relationships are undercurrents of racial tension. When an African-American family moves into their predominantly Italian neighborhood, the community reacts with ugliness. Maddalena, Antonio, and Giulio interact with Abraham Waters in markedly different ways, and these differences are telling in how each individual handles life's disappointments and surprises. Castellani's lyrical and elegant novel goes beyond the story of a mid-20th-century Italian-American community. His characters are finely drawn, and he has a keen eye for the subtle dramas of family and friendship.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (September 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565124332
• ISBN-13: 978-1565124332
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #419,338 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An honest look at the immigrant experience, October 10, 2005

By	Natasha VanDriesen (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This was a very genuine-feeling account of the Italian immigrant experience, and the city of Wilmington was vividly evoked. I would disagree with those who have said that Maddalena is not a likable character. True, she is not particularly "empowered" in the modern sense, and she has her flaws, but she is a product of her time and culture. I couldn't help sympathizing with her. So often literary heroines are exceptional or ahead of their time in some way, and while this is certainly interesting, it's rather refreshing to read about the interior life and feelings of a "normal" person -- and something which takes a bit more courage and empathy on the author's part, I think.

My only niggles with the book: some historical innacuracies, which stood out because most of the book seemed so well-researched. For example, pantyhose (mentioned when Maddalena goes to the talent agent) weren't invented until 1959, and Magic Markers (also mentioned in that scene) weren't around by that name, anyway, until the mid sixties.

I also wished that there was a bit more conflict and tension to the plot. While I finished and enjoyed the book, and found the writing clear and sensitive, the book as a whole was very quiet, and didn't have that wonderful page-turning quality I crave. Still, it's clear that the author has a lot of promise. I look forward to reading his future books.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Period Snapshot of the Experiences of an Immigrant Wife, September 30, 2005

By	MaddalenaC "MaddalenaC" (NV USA) - See all my reviews

"The Saint of Lost Things" Picks up the story of Maddalena Piccinelli Grasso, heroine of Castellani's first novel, "A Kiss from Maddalena" in America,her years-long adjustment to the new land and her gradual acceptance and growing love of Antonio who took her from Vito, the boy who loved her back in her Italian village. In letters from the beloved and much missed Old Country, Maddalena learns what happened to Vito after her hasty departure. Through a friendship with a middle-aged neighbor who is also mourning the past and his parents, Maddalena is able to express her grief over the village and family she left behind, and after the birth of her first child, which almost costs her her life, to move into a sort of resignation to her lot. It seems that although she comes to love Antonio, she never really stops missing the homeland she left against her will so many years before. I gave the novel 4 stars because although it was good to learn what happens to Maddalena, the love that grows in her for Antonio, who for me is really not a very admirable person, is beyond my comprehension as anything but a resigning of herself to the only person to whom she can cling in a sea of unfamiliar people and customs. Maddalena has to share her grief over the Old Country with Giulio, who is because of his own losses, emotionally available to talk to. Like so many husbands of that generation, Antonio hides so much of himself from his wife, and she accepts that.(In the end, though, Antonio, at least comes from the same village, and with Giulio at last finding a woman, he becomes lost to her as a friend and confidant). I don't really see this novel as a love story, but as the story of many women of that era who had no choices but to cling to husbands who did not understand them, whose world was circumscribed by husband and family, whose horizons were so limited. As she had no control over the choice of the man she married, so, in the end, she has no real choices but to learn to love him and to stifle any longings for more - education, travel (even back to the village to see her family. And, I am sorry to say, Maddalena does not fight very hard against the status quo. Even back then there were women who did in some way, even within the bounds of marriage and family, find some way to express themselves. Maddalena turns out not to be much of a heroine. In the end she is content to be a decoration on her husband's arm, and the mother of his children. I would say this is a fairly accurate portrayal of the lives of many wives (and not just immigrant wives) in the 1950's. Thank God for Women's Lib!!!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MEMORABLE CHARACTERS SET IN A NOSTALGIC PLACE, October 22, 2005

By	Sean Carroll (New London, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Christopher Castellani has once again delivered a work that provides memorable characters living in a place and time that seems warm & familiar. In "The Saint of Lost Things," he carefully navigates the difficult challenge of writing a sequel without requiring the reader to read his first work, "A Kiss from Maddalena." His ability to introduce characters and energize them in their neighborhoods and livelihoods is almost without parallel.

As with the first book, "The Saint..." is a quick read that compels you to keep reading. Maddalena, Antonio, Giulio, Abraham, et al are a wonderful collection of friends and strangers we have met in our lives; their stories are familiar to us -- and prevent us from putting down the book until it concludes.

I hope he writes his next work soon.