Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California [Paperback]

Sue Fagalde Lick (Author), Rose Reed (Editor), Cover:Andrew Cier; inside: Sue Fagalde Lick (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

More than 60 Portuguese immigrants and their descendants tell what it was like adapting to a new country and how it felt growing up Portuguese American. Chapters look at immigration, marriage, work, religion, culture, the arts and the connections between California and Portugal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hard work, perseverance, and a belief in themselves are the basic ingredients of the remarkable women featured in these insightful and gripping stories of Portuguese women. Sue Fagalde Lick provides us with a solid look at women who will never be forgotten -- Michael McCone, executive director, California Historical Society --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

Nearly one million Portuguese Americans live in California, immigrants or the descendants of immigrants who left poverty behind to seek a better life. Stories Grandma Never Told collects the accounts of the women who settled a foreign land, facing a new language, new customs, and new expectations about their roles as wives, mothers, and workers. Here, too, are the stories of their daughters and granddaughters, and their own struggles to reconcile old-country ways and morality with American lives and identity. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Blue Hydrangea Productions; Updated edition (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892076357
• ISBN-13: 978-1892076359
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a full-time writer/musician and dog mom. Lifelong Californians, my husband Fred and I moved to the Oregon Coast in 1996. I spent many years working on newspapers before moving to full-time freelance writing. My books include Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California, The Iberian Americans, Azorean Dreams, Freelancing for Newspaper, and Shoes Full of Sand. You can get the full scoop at http://www.suelick.com.

In addition to writing, I sing, play piano and guitar and perform here and there. I'm also co-director of the choirs at Sacred Heart Church in Newport, OR. That means I have short nails and calluses on the fingers of my left hand, but the music is totally worth it.

I love history, dogs, books, hiking, hot tubs, and online jigsaw puzzles. Also, raviolis and potato salad.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, funny , touching, and at times, a little sad., June 5, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Denise Azevedo) (Calif. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my husbands Portuguese grandmother, who is getting on in years and doesnt read much anymore. She read the entire book in two days! I also looked through the book, and was very impressed with the authors keen insight into the traditional Portuguese ways and customs. I will also purchase another copy for my daughter, so she can learn as much about her Portuguese heritage as possible, when she is old enough to understand it.I would like to instill a sense of pride in my daughters various ethnicities, and this book will be a fun and interesting was for her to learn about the struggles and challenges her grandparents faced as immigrints in earlier times.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT....TELLS THE STORY JUST AS I REMEMBER MY ANCESTORS, October 11, 1999

By 

LOUISA ALLEN ([e-mail]) (CALIFORNIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California (Paperback)

tHIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR EVERY PORTUGUESE WOMAN/MAN TO READ. BEING OF PORTUGUESE DESCENT. I REALLY RELATED TO THESE STORIES. BOTH OF MY PARENTS WERE IMMIGRANTS TO THE USA FROM THE AZORE ISLANDS. I TRULY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK OF TO ANYONE WHO IS OF PORTUGUESE HERITAGE..BROUGHT BACK MANY MEMORIES OF MY GRANDPARENTS &PARENTS. EVEN THOUGH I WAS BORN IN THIS COUNTRY, I REMEMBER THE FESTAS, SOPAS, LINGUISA, HOLIDAYS OF THE PORTUGUESE PEOPLE. HOPEFULLY, I HAVE PASSED ON SOMETHING TO MY OWN THREE CHILDREN..

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good If Youre Portuguese, Weak If Youre Not, November 17, 2003

By 

Michael Lima (Fresno, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California (Paperback)

I enjoyed Stories Grandma Never Told on a purely nostalgic level. Each chapter brought back anecdotes that my grandparents and parents told me of their experiences in immigrating to California from the Azores. I was surprised at how similar the book's subject's stories were to those that were told by my grandparents. Above all, I was reminded at how wonderful it is to have a strong cultural identity in one's background.

However, I realized early that the reason I was enjoying this book was because I was supplying much of the emotional energy. I certainly wasn't helped by the writing, which could best be described as pedestrian. The writing was exceptionally lacking in providing each of the interviewed subjects with a distinctive voice, thus making it difficult to distinguish one interviewee from another. Because of the Lick's inability to make any of her sources seem unique, the special qualities of the Portuguese culture also seem indistinguishable from those displayed by other European cultures. As a result, I'm not sure that any non-Portuguese reader of this book would find it interesting or informative.

You should read (and probably own) this book if you are Portuguese. It will bring back many good memories of ancestors, as well as reminders of the struggles they endured in order to be successful in their new home. But, if you're not Portuguese, you will most likely not find anything that distinguishes these stories from those told by the Italians, the Basques, or any other nationality that immigrated to the United States. Consequently, Stories Grandma Never Told has to be considered a missed opportunity in sharing the special qualities that come with being Portuguese.