• Nina Ricci Perfume
• Lives Of The Saints Nino Ricci

When young Vittorio Innocente’s mother, Cristina, is bitten by a snake in the family stable, no one sees the blue-eyed stranger leaving except for Vittorio. He struggles to keep his mother’s secret but secrets in a small village are hard to keep, and while Cristina’s belly gradually grows under her loose dresses, they find themselves shunned by their superstitious neighbou When young Vittorio Innocente’s mother, Cristina, is bitten by a snake in the family stable, no one sees the blue-eyed stranger leaving except for Vittorio. He struggles to keep his mother’s secret but secrets in a small village are hard to keep, and while Cristina’s belly gradually grows under her loose dresses, they find themselves shunned by their superstitious neighbours. A classic of Canadian literature, Lives of the Saints has earned many distinctions since it was originally published in 1990. It was a national bestseller for seventy-five weeks, received the Governor Generals Literary Award for Fiction, the W.H. Smith / Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the F.G. Bressani Prize.

In England it won the Betty Trask Award and Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, in the U.S. Was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and in France was an Oeil de la letter Selection of the National Libraries Association. It was also adapted into a miniseries starring Sophia Loren. Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Bressani Prize. 4 stars In my opinion, Lives of the Saints is a much more enjoyable, tightly woven story than Ricci’s most recent Origin of the Species. This debut novel is told through the eyes of 7-year-old Vittorio Innocente. Vittorio lives with his mother, Cristina, and his grandfather, the town mayor.

Ebook (ePUB), by Ricci, Nino. 'Lives of the Saints' by Ricci, Nino is a digital EPUB ebook for direct download to PC. A DRM capable reader equipment is required. Books in Canada First Novel Award. Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Read Sleep by Nino Ricci with Kobo. Earn Kobo Super Points! Lives of the Saints. In his overambitious fifth novel, two-time Governor General's award–winner Ricci (The Lives of Saints ) introduces Alex Fratarcangeli, a 30-something P.

The story opens with Vittorio hearing a man’s cry from the stable. Young Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Bressani Prize. 4 ½ stars In my opinion, Lives of the Saints is a much more enjoyable, tightly woven story than Ricci’s most recent Origin of the Species. This debut novel is told through the eyes of 7-year-old Vittorio Innocente.

Vittorio lives with his mother, Cristina, and his grandfather, the town mayor. The story opens with Vittorio hearing a man’s cry from the stable. Young Vitto also sees a snake, which has special meaning for the villagers of Valle del Sole, Italy. Inside the stable, our protagonist next sees the blue eyes of a stranger in the darkness, but when Vittorio is questioned by his mother about what he saw, he claims not to have seen a thing, focusing instead, on her snake bite. And so begins the tale of Vittorio Innocente’s loss of innocence, and the strong, independent Cristina, and how her actions affect not only her own life, but also those of her son and father. That she had been bitten by a snake arouses age-old superstitions and fears amongst the villagers even though Vittorio later claims the snake was green, a good sign. It’s Cristina’s affair, well-known to all, that is hot gossip, and eventually results in her being shunned, not only by the hypocritical inhabitants of Valle del Sole, but also by her father.

Her son’s struggle to make sense of it all eventually leads him to understand certain truths about human nature. Ricci has a good story to tell, and his writing is very descriptive: “‘Like dogs, that’s how we live,’ Maria said from the doorway, ‘wash the clothes, haul the water, make the bread, feed the goats, per l’amore di Crist’ let me rest my limbs for a minute.’ And so saying she moved into the stone coolness of the kitchen and set her tub on the floor, then dragged the chair way from the table halfway to the door and straddled it backwards, the way young men did at Di Lucci’s bar. She rested her thick arms on the chair’s back and extended her legs before her, her bulging veins leading like purple highways to the high lands of her hips.

Her flesh, its tremors receding, came to uneasy rest, her breasts and belly pressing against the chair back like a cliff wall.” I am a stickler for over-usage of certain phrases, and per l’amore di Crist’ was used too often for my taste. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Ricci had relegated the phrase to one character, but it was uttered by many throughout the book. And if this was a stand alone novel, I would have considered the ending far too abrupt.

Those minor criticisms aside, Lives of the Saints is great immigrant literature. I am glad I do not have to wait three years to read the second in the trilogy, and then another four years to read the third.

Instead, I can continue reading the story of Vittorio Innocente without interruption. I have already turned the first few pages of In a Glass House. Ok so this is a book I'm reading for English class so it's not necessarily my first choice, but that's not the reason I'm giving it 2 stars. I'll admit that the idea probably has the potential to go somewhere- a very religious, 60's Italian town and an independant Cristina who is surrounded by controversy; all told from the point of view of her 7 year old son Vittorio who is clearly confused about it all. It's just this book got 2 stars from me for a few reasons: 1. I really don't like how there Ok so this is a book I'm reading for English class so it's not necessarily my first choice, but that's not the reason I'm giving it 2 stars.

I'll admit that the idea probably has the potential to go somewhere- a very religious, 60's Italian town and an independant Cristina who is surrounded by controversy; all told from the point of view of her 7 year old son Vittorio who is clearly confused about it all. It's just this book got 2 stars from me for a few reasons: 1. I really don't like how there are many Italian phrases throughout the book. I mean, some are just words that are easy enough to roughly translate from context.

But then there are whole sentences and lines of Italian that I can't make sense of. I mean, some of those lines may not be important, but some are and it seems to chop up the book because I don't speak Italian so I don't know what they're saying. Lots of big words. That's not necessarily a bad thing because you don't want to be using really simple words, but when you realize that this book is being told by a 7 year old who can't understand that his Mom is pregnant (I hope that's not a spoiler), when he's using words like 'lesions of rust', I don't understand how he knows these words.

I didn't when I was 7. The book starts off quite slow. It starts to pick up around chapter 20 but before that, Vittorio is still trying to figure everything out and seems quite oblivious. I guess that's why this is a trilogy, but if I didn't have to read this book for class, I would have stopped way before anything really interesting happenened. There is a lot of description.

And I mean a LOT. Description is usually good, don't get me wrong, just sometimes it seems to just drag on and on, almost too much. That makes it just boring becausse sometimes the description is of nothing of particular importance. It can end up being a little.dirty at times.

I mean, my Dad skimmed over it for about 5-10 min and was like 'This book seems to have a lot of talk about breasts and bodies in it'. So I don't know, maybe that's part of his descriptions but it's a little too much at times (not going to give any spoilers though) Of course, this is just MY opinion. I'd look over the book to see if it seems interesting to you.

You might love it. I just really wanted to get my thoughts on this book out there. Thanks for reading:). While I enjoyed what this book was trying to do, I can tell that not only was it written by a white guy, but it lacked a lot of substance.

I read this for class, but at the end of the day I found it deeply misogynistic. Why would a 7 year-old constantly be describing the way his mother's breasts strain against her blouse while she's tending the garden? Or when his mother's friend is over, describe the 'marble fat of her inner thigh'? Ricci is a man trying to write in the perspective of a 7 year- While I enjoyed what this book was trying to do, I can tell that not only was it written by a white guy, but it lacked a lot of substance. I read this for class, but at the end of the day I found it deeply misogynistic. Why would a 7 year-old constantly be describing the way his mother's breasts strain against her blouse while she's tending the garden? Or when his mother's friend is over, describe the 'marble fat of her inner thigh'?

Ricci is a man trying to write in the perspective of a 7 year-old boy, and fails miserably. Meanwhile, the boy's mother is trying to somewhat be a 'feminist' by not caring what the village might think of her affair and pregnancy, but I hated the way she treated her son, and she was, bottomline, an unlikable character. Why to go for making the feminists unlikable! (she says sarcastically). Other than that, I guess it accurately portrayed the time, and the little village in Italy, it's population dreaming of the day they'll all have enough money to move to America.

So I did not enjoy this. This was one of the books Kathy brought to me when I was having my operation.

Great novel (and I indeed thought so at the time), but tainted with the time, and my nervousness. Probably worth reading again. And like all great books, it must END.

'I realized with a start that I'd been singing out loud, a small mumble that died now as I became aware of it. I glanced behind me to see if anyone had heard.

My mother's grey-eyed German friend had just come onto the sun deck with a young This was one of the books Kathy brought to me when I was having my operation. Great novel (and I indeed thought so at the time), but tainted with the time, and my nervousness. Probably worth reading again. And like all great books, it must END. 'I realized with a start that I'd been singing out loud, a small mumble that died now as I became aware of it.

I glanced behind me to see if anyone had heard. My mother's grey-eyed German friend had just come onto the sun deck with a young woman; but they eased themselves into deck chairs without noticing me, laughing and talking in a language I couldn't understand. In my pant pocket, where I'd put it that morning before the funeral, was my lucky one lira, and I pulled it out now to look at it. The coin was shiny and slick from handling; but the imprint had not worn away, as it did sometimes on older five and ten lire—the lines were still visible on the eagle's wings, and the mark where Luciano had said a bullet had hit.

But when I flipped the coin over to look at the bust on the other side, it slipped through my fingers—easily almost, without resistance, as if I had not tried to stop it, or had not believed it could fall; though now that it was falling my limbs seemed to have grown too thick and slow to stop it. For a long instant it tumbled down, winking darkly at me in the dying light as if to send me some final secret message, some magic consolation, if only I could make it out; but at last it fell with a hollow clang to the deck, where it rolled for a moment in a wide slow arc before titling fatally toward the rails, and tumbling out to sea.' It was a long time since I read this book. Reading the beginning reminds me why I liked it (gorgeous writing), although not much remains in my memory. Thus it BEGINS, with a bang. 'If this story has a beginning, a moment at which a single gesture broke the surface of events like a stone thrown into the sea, the ripples cresting away endlessly, then that beginning occurred on a hot July day in the year 1960, in the village of Valle del Sole, when my mother was bitten by a snake.'

In the first novel of Nino Ricci's famous trilogy we are introduced to Vittorio Innocente, a seven year old Italian boy living with his mother (Cristina) and grandfather in the quaint city of La Valle Del Sole. They have a simple life; Vittorio goes to school, his mother tends to the farm and his grandfather looks over the town as mayor. But it does not remain simple for long. In no time at all, due to a few mistakes, their pleasant lifestyle takes a drastic turn for the worst.

Their close knit In the first novel of Nino Ricci's famous trilogy we are introduced to Vittorio Innocente, a seven year old Italian boy living with his mother (Cristina) and grandfather in the quaint city of La Valle Del Sole. They have a simple life; Vittorio goes to school, his mother tends to the farm and his grandfather looks over the town as mayor.

But it does not remain simple for long. In no time at all, due to a few mistakes, their pleasant lifestyle takes a drastic turn for the worst. Their close knit community, set in their religious ways, is suspicious when Cristina is bitten by the ominous snake (symbol of sins and evil) and unforgiving when she is impregnated by a man unknown. No longer respected or cared for; Cristina lives in seclusion, imprisoning herself in her own home. Vittorio, being young and oblivious, doesn't notice things transpiring. He fails to make a connection between a blue-eyed man he'd previously seen with his mother, her all of a sudden pregnancy and the isolation that his family has come to endure. It isn't until his mother stops talking, his peers begin to bully him and his grandfather resigns as mayor that he finally comes to his senses.

He realizes his family's unfortunate predicament and goes to extreme lengths to fix it. Nino Ricci's portrayal of Cristina was entertaining and somewhat thought-provoking. She bravely shares her beliefs and opinions with a sense of carelessness. Even though how she acts and what she says is “wrong” and “unacceptable” in her community, she does it anyway, as if there are no consequences. It was interesting to read of someone who was so willing to go against society. Besides the unusual characteristics of Cristina, not much else in this novel was captivating.

Although many strange incidents occur, none of them were gripping. This book is suitable for an age group that can fully grasp and appreciate the underlying meaning behind the life story of Vittorio (Ages 40-up).

I finished reading this novel; and my final thoughts were I didn’t want to read this novel ever again. Lives of the Saints is a slow, depressing, and takes a long time for the characters to develop I feel.

The main thing I didn’t like about the story is that it was set in post war Europe and that the Author was using a lot of Italian phrases that made absolutely no sense to me. It’s a well written book and I will give the author that; but I feel like a missed a lot in the book just by not knowin I finished reading this novel; and my final thoughts were I didn’t want to read this novel ever again. Lives of the Saints is a slow, depressing, and takes a long time for the characters to develop I feel. The main thing I didn’t like about the story is that it was set in post war Europe and that the Author was using a lot of Italian phrases that made absolutely no sense to me.

It’s a well written book and I will give the author that; but I feel like a missed a lot in the book just by not knowing all the Italian phrases or just the exceptionally dull story line. This book is narrated by a seven year old that catches his mother committing adultery with a thing/person that they call “The Blue-Eyed man”.

The book is very dramatic and a little mysterious because I feel that there are little hidden messages from “The Blue-Eyed man”. First off; the book quality was fair. It was fair because I fell asleep reading the book because about seventy five percent of the book is boring and dull. It’s dramatic and I like a little bit of that and it was spaced out in the story well. The author could have done a few things better; shorten up the story and take all the mind numbing story out that doesn’t need to be in there or spice it up a bit. The main portion of the story is in the last five or so chapters; so if it progressively went up in the story I would have liked it a lot more. Lots of people might like this story and I accept that.

The person that would like this book is an English teacher or any other human being over 18. Why did I choose the magic number 18? I chose it because anyone under that age I feel would get about less than six chapters into the book and fall asleep and never pick it up again. As soon as I finished reading this novel, I wanted to start all over again. Lives of the Saints is a kind of compelling story-telling which is hewn out of rock in an effort to remember (and perhaps again to drink of) the waters that had been there to shape it. For it is rock that we climb, live in, and come down from, rock inside our fists we throw and hurl as we follow the young boy Vitto 'Ho! and his mother Cristina 'Beh!

E' scimunita tua mamma.' And it is waters that hurl us, t As soon as I finished reading this novel, I wanted to start all over again. Lives of the Saints is a kind of compelling story-telling which is hewn out of rock in an effort to remember (and perhaps again to drink of) the waters that had been there to shape it. For it is rock that we climb, live in, and come down from, rock inside our fists we throw and hurl as we follow the young boy Vitto 'Ho! and his mother Cristina 'Beh! E' scimunita tua mamma.' And it is waters that hurl us, that come down our cheeks, that we cross, that kill us.

There is much to enjoy about this story, for even the secondary characters are their own, such as la maestra and the stories of the saints and the saints themselves the teacher reads out of a book to Vitto, and Vitto's friend Fabrizio whom he mistakes to be miles away from home among the throngs waving goodbye to him at the pier. The village of Valle del Sole's only car and Cazzingulo's always crowded truck, and even the sheep being made to jump inside holes, the head of a chicken watching out of its dead eyes a pagan ritual pyre, and 'five feet long' are not obscure.

I had a chance a few weeks ago to hear the author Nino Ricci during a panel at the IIC Italian Cultural Institute, Consulate General of Italy in Toronto, which led me to seek out one of his published stories. Beh, I was indeed rewarded for trying or for being led to it.

This book takes place in rural Italy, presumably some time after the war, Mussolini and communism were still fairly recent events (sorry if this is inaccurate, I'm a bit rusty on the history) The story follows young Vittorio and his strong-willed mother through life in the village of Valle Del Sole. Overall, I must say this book left me with a pretty mediocre impression. One on hand, I did appreciate the look into what rural Italian culture may have looked like, but I didn't particularly care for This book takes place in rural Italy, presumably some time after the war, Mussolini and communism were still fairly recent events (sorry if this is inaccurate, I'm a bit rusty on the history) The story follows young Vittorio and his strong-willed mother through life in the village of Valle Del Sole.

Overall, I must say this book left me with a pretty mediocre impression. One on hand, I did appreciate the look into what rural Italian culture may have looked like, but I didn't particularly care for the main protagonists.

It may have been intentional, in the sense that Vittorio is a young boy and thus doesn't have a definitive voice, but all in all his accounts seemed fairly bland to me. I did enjoy the grandfather greatly, and I will say that little Vitto's dedication to his mother was very heartening. A lot of plot points in this book ask the reader to fill in the blanks.

For example, who is in the stable that Vitto sees at the beginning of the story, what is the situation with Vitto's father, what is Vitto's mother actually going to do in America etc. And I kind of wish some of the answers were a bit more fleshed out, especially considering the ending. The prose was fairly easy to follow, but the ending and the story as a whole kind of left me with a 'now what' feeling. 2.5 stars This book sounded interesting and was read as part of a book club. It had a lot of promise - 1960's; very religious and superstitious small town in Italy; 'free-spirit' Cristina, daughter of the town mayor, int caught in the middle of a scandal; Vittorio, Cristina's 7 year old son, tells the story.

It's hard to believe the story is told from by a 7 year old. Some of the phrases and words is a little over-the-top.

I wasn't expecting 'simple' but also wasn't expecting the extravagance. 2.5 stars This book sounded interesting and was read as part of a book club. It had a lot of promise - 1960's; very religious and superstitious small town in Italy; 'free-spirit' Cristina, daughter of the town mayor, int caught in the middle of a scandal; Vittorio, Cristina's 7 year old son, tells the story. It's hard to believe the story is told from by a 7 year old.

Some of the phrases and words is a little over-the-top. I wasn't expecting 'simple' but also wasn't expecting the extravagance. Ricci is very descriptive in the writing - its beautifully written but sometimes it seems to just drag on and on, almost too much. When the description doesn't really add anything of importance, it can be quite boring. I found all the Italian phrases, without being explained, a little frustrating. Some could be easily translated, but others, which were longer, and whole paragraphs, weren't explained.

It doesn't really seem to pick up until about the last 50 pages or so.I guess what's why you need to read the entire series. I will continue with the series since I'm curious how it continues and want some closure. I'll give this two and a half stars, because the story did pick up in the final chapters of the book. Several things were wrong for me. First off, I'm not sure I like stories set in post-war Europe too much, which admittedly is not the author's fault. But I found the constant interjection of Italian phrases irritating. I don't speak Italian, and I don't want to read my books with a dicitonary beside me.

I can see a smattering here and there, but every few pargraphs, no thanks. Just my humbl Meh. I'll give this two and a half stars, because the story did pick up in the final chapters of the book.

Several things were wrong for me. First off, I'm not sure I like stories set in post-war Europe too much, which admittedly is not the author's fault. But I found the constant interjection of Italian phrases irritating. I don't speak Italian, and I don't want to read my books with a dicitonary beside me. I can see a smattering here and there, but every few pargraphs, no thanks. Just my humble opinion.

I wanted to get to know Vittorio's mother better, but much of her life remains a secret, which makes sense, because the narrator is a seven year old boy, and of course he doesn't understand much of what goes on in his mother's world. But for me, it left too much unsaid. Will I read the next two installments in the triology? I'm not sure. Probably if I find them in a used book store per chance, but I won't go out of my way to look for them.

This book emotionally hurt me. Not only was it painfully boring for the first 20 chapters (which accounts for about 2/3 of the book), but the story just didn't seem realistic at all.

This poor 7 year old kid does not understand for the entire book that his mother is pregnant. To make it even worse, the last names of all the characters in the book are so unreal. I lived in Italy for a year so I know Italian, and let me tell you, everyone's last name is an animal, except for 'Girasole' (Sunflower) This book emotionally hurt me. Not only was it painfully boring for the first 20 chapters (which accounts for about 2/3 of the book), but the story just didn't seem realistic at all. This poor 7 year old kid does not understand for the entire book that his mother is pregnant. To make it even worse, the last names of all the characters in the book are so unreal.

I lived in Italy for a year so I know Italian, and let me tell you, everyone's last name is an animal, except for 'Girasole' (Sunflower), and D'Amico (friend). I also cannot tell you how much I despise Cristina. The only thing I like about her is that she loves her son unconditionally, other than that, she is a selfish b.tch. The only reason I read the entire book is because I had to read it for my English class.

I think the ideas are good, it just lacks in reality and speed. I waffled between giving this book two or three stars, but ultimately decided on two. It's a story told from the perspective of a 7 year old boy, who's living with his mother and grandfather. The community is very religious and his family ends up ostracized, as a result of the predicament his mother finds herself in. The crux of the book is interesting and is essentially well-written.

The problem though, is that it starts of very slowly and seems to go off on some very strange tangen I waffled between giving this book two or three stars, but ultimately decided on two. It's a story told from the perspective of a 7 year old boy, who's living with his mother and grandfather. The community is very religious and his family ends up ostracized, as a result of the predicament his mother finds herself in. The crux of the book is interesting and is essentially well-written. The problem though, is that it starts of very slowly and seems to go off on some very strange tangents at times, tangents that don't really enhance the story.

At any rate, it certainly wasn't terrible, but it wasn't as great as I was expecting, since it's one of the books on CBC's list of 100 Novels that Make you Proud to be Canadian. If the mark of a good novel is it's ability to be believed, then Lives of the Saints meets the mark: it is full of details that bring the story to life from the point of view of its young protagonist. It takes no small talent to portray adult psychology so accurately when your narrator is just 7 years old. At the same time, for whatever reason, Ricci's novel never really caught my imagination, at least not enough to justify a 4-star rating. Maybe the theme was just too mundane: 'illegitimate' pr If the mark of a good novel is it's ability to be believed, then Lives of the Saints meets the mark: it is full of details that bring the story to life from the point of view of its young protagonist. It takes no small talent to portray adult psychology so accurately when your narrator is just 7 years old.

At the same time, for whatever reason, Ricci's novel never really caught my imagination, at least not enough to justify a 4-star rating. Maybe the theme was just too mundane: 'illegitimate' pregnancies have been done to death in literature. Still, if you're willing to come at the subject from a new angle or are curious about Italian village life in the 1960's, give this book a try. Reading this book as an assignment for English class it was as slow as I expected it to be however it did surprise me a bit. It was actually quite interesting and I must say, despite falling asleep while reading it a few times, I enjoyed it. A feminist analysis can be used to evaluate this book quite easily, looking at concepts such as the social construction of femininity, genered division of labour, and patriarchy.

A Marxist analysis is also very much possible. Cristina was an interesting charac Reading this book as an assignment for English class it was as slow as I expected it to be however it did surprise me a bit.

It was actually quite interesting and I must say, despite falling asleep while reading it a few times, I enjoyed it. A feminist analysis can be used to evaluate this book quite easily, looking at concepts such as the social construction of femininity, genered division of labour, and patriarchy. A Marxist analysis is also very much possible. Cristina was an interesting character to me, I admired her rebelliousness and how she managed to deal with everything thrown at her as well as raising Vittorio.

This was relatively a good read. The first of the Mario Innocente trilogy, and probably the most celebrated of the three, I actually think that the success of 'Lives of the Saints' lies in its setting up the second of the series, 'In a Glass House.' The latter deals with the boy's post-immigration life in Canada, the former the pre-emigration experience with his mother in Italy.

Maybe this view was influenced by the fact that I read 'In a Glass House' first, or maybe it is because I was interested in Ricci in the first place be The first of the Mario Innocente trilogy, and probably the most celebrated of the three, I actually think that the success of 'Lives of the Saints' lies in its setting up the second of the series, 'In a Glass House.' The latter deals with the boy's post-immigration life in Canada, the former the pre-emigration experience with his mother in Italy. Maybe this view was influenced by the fact that I read 'In a Glass House' first, or maybe it is because I was interested in Ricci in the first place because of his reputation as an authority on the Itaian-Canadian experience. A deceptively simple boy's story that conceals a lot between the lines, concerning his mother.

It's set in a small Italian village, with all the prejudices and bad-temperedness that prevails in such settings. An outstanding best-seller in its day, it has gone into many languages, and remained in print for 26 years so far. I found it a straightforward read and of course missed most of the concealments.

The ending was tragic in the extreme. It hardly needs recommending, but highly recommended anyw A deceptively simple boy's story that conceals a lot between the lines, concerning his mother.

Nina Ricci Perfume

It's set in a small Italian village, with all the prejudices and bad-temperedness that prevails in such settings. An outstanding best-seller in its day, it has gone into many languages, and remained in print for 26 years so far. I found it a straightforward read and of course missed most of the concealments. The ending was tragic in the extreme.

It hardly needs recommending, but highly recommended anyway. A beautifully written book I enjoyed for the language and for a glimpse into the life of a child in a small Italian village in the 1940s. Ricci creates a world so vivid I can see clearly every place the child inhabits.

As a writer, I also was interested in how the author handled point of view. The story is a first person account about what happens to a seven-year-old boy but the voice has the perspective of an adult looking back on himself as that boy. It works well. I look forward to reading th A beautifully written book I enjoyed for the language and for a glimpse into the life of a child in a small Italian village in the 1940s. Ricci creates a world so vivid I can see clearly every place the child inhabits. As a writer, I also was interested in how the author handled point of view. The story is a first person account about what happens to a seven-year-old boy but the voice has the perspective of an adult looking back on himself as that boy.

It works well. I look forward to reading the rest of this trilogy. Nino Ricci’s first novel was the internationally acclaimed Lives of the Saints.

It spent 75 weeks on the Globe and Mail‘s bestseller list and was the winner of the F.G. Bressani Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. In England it won Betty Trask Award and Winnifred Holtby Prize, in the U.S.

Was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenba Nino Ricci’s first novel was the internationally acclaimed Lives of the Saints. It spent 75 weeks on the Globe and Mail‘s bestseller list and was the winner of the F.G. Bressani Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. In England it won Betty Trask Award and Winnifred Holtby Prize, in the U.S. Was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and in France was an Oiel de la lettre Selection of the National Libraries Association.

Published in seventeen countries, Lives of the Saints was the first volume of a trilogy that continued with In a Glass House, hailed as a “genuine achievement” by The New York Times, and Where She Has Gone, nominated for the Giller Prize. The Lives of the Saints trilogy was adapted for a television miniseries starring Sophia Loren and Kris Kristofferson. Books in Canada commented that Ricci’s trilogy “so amply demonstrates the author’s tremendous talents that we would be foolish as readers not to follow him down whatever road he next chooses to follow.” That road led him to Testament, a fictional retelling of the life of Jesus. Hailed as a “masterpiece” by Saturday Night, Testament was a Booklist Choice for the Top Ten Historical Novels of the Year and a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year. It was shortlisted for a Commonwealth Prize and for the Roger’s Writers’ Trust Award for Fiction and was a winner of the Trillium Award. Ricci’s national bestseller The Origin of Species earned him the Canadian Authors Association Fiction Award as well as his second Governor General’s Award for Fiction.

Set in Montreal in 1980s, the novel casts a Darwinian eye on the life of Alex Fratarcangeli, who is torn between his baser impulses and his pursuit of the Good. “This novel does so well, on so many levels,” wrote the Toronto Star, “that it’s hard to know where to begin tallying up the riches.” Ricci is also the author of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a short biography that forms part of Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series, edited by John Ralston Saul. Ricci’s biography, according to HistoryWire, “provides the best, and best written, perspective on Trudeau there is.” Ricci's newest novel is Sleep, out in the fall of 2015.

What really happened to Vittorio's mother that day in the stable? That she'd been bitten by a snake was clear enough: the swelling in the ankle proved it. But that other swelling, the one that led eventually to his mother's long, loose dresses, to those dark, cold stares from the other villagers. What strange thing could be taking shape there in his mother's belly, and what doom would it carry them all to?

Lives Of The Saints Nino Ricci

Set in Valle del Sole, a tiny mountain hamlet nestled in the folds of the Italian Appenines like a world forgotten, Lives of the Saints tells the story of young Vittorio Innocente and of his mother, Cristina, whose affair with a mysterious blue-eyed stranger abruptly shatters the innocence of Vittorio's childhood. As he tries to piece together the truth of his mother's crime, we discover through Vittorio's eyes the dark underside of Valle de Sole's pastoral calm: the hypocrisy and malice that breed within the cloak of the villagers' self-righteousness, and the age-old superstitions and fears that lurk beneath their veneer of Chrisitanity and Catholicism like vestiges of a pagan past. But sinner or saint, Cristina is irrepressible and, finally, it is her defiance that the villagers cannot bear, her refusal to be defeated by them even as her world crumbled. Lives of the Saints follows the story of 7 year old Vittorio Innocente and his mother Cristina. When Vittorio stumbles upon his mother having affair with a man he cannot describe other than having “blue-eyes,” the village begins to ostracize Cristina, forcing herself and Vittorio to make drastic changes in their way of life. Superstitions and village beliefs begin to corner Cristina to a point where she decides that it is time she and Vitto broke free from the village’s cruel ways.

The title of the novel comes from the name of the book Vitto’s teacher gave to him over the holidays to read on his own also called “The Lives of the Saints.” This book keeps Vitto company while he, along with his mother, are disliked and shunned by the village. Vitto is able to learn quite a lot from the religious text, and uses what he learns to understand what is happening in his life. Readers are able to see just how much Vitto grows as a person from the start of the novel, to the point where he reads the book his teacher gave to him. Lives of the Saints takes a different route of storytelling by making the reader see the world from a 7 year olds’ eyes.

The reader is given a skewed view of what is happening, due to the fact that Vitto himself does not quite understand what is happening around him. As he pieces information together, so does the reader, giving the reader an interesting reading experience. Although this novel has a fairly slow pace and takes a while to get into, the reader is still left being able to take something out of it. Through the use of symbolism and imagery, readers are given a unique experience and will most definitely be moved by this story.