Saturday, May 22, 2021

"From Ashes to Song", by Hilary Hauck




This story inspired by true events is one of ordinary people that left their country during the great wave of immigration to start in a new life in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. This fictional portrayal of two young people who represent those who ventured from the vineyard in Italy for what they thoughts would be a better life in America. What they faced is hardship in the shanty towns and the danger in the coal mines. This is the story of Pietro, a maestro clarinetist and Assunta whose beautiful voice was the inspiration for his music.

The story span from 1911 to the 1950’s and touches: love, loss, heartache, happiness, sadness, all aspect of life one must face. The story is elegantly written and meanders a lot from page one till the wrap up in order to pull us into the mindset of the time. It is an emotional journey; the days are incredibly hard for them but their will to success made them stronger. Pietro music is so well describes I could almost hear it....the snippets nicely ties everything together. The characterisation is fairly realistic; the author has captured skillfully the time and place and has penned a fictional story that will please most.

So why did “From Ashes to Song”, not pique my interest and hold me captive from start to finish? Why did I find this story somewhat boring? Maybe, the lack of intensity in the progression of the story that simply was plugging along and said in an even tone that did not totally agree with me but again this is only my opinion.

I received a copy of this book from Sunbury Press via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it.

No comments:

Post a Comment