Overview

The sky is an allegory for fate. Unfortunately, the Voltinis, a family of six children and their widowed mother Norina, live under a dark sky. They all struggle to survive in a small Italian town in the 1950's. The eldest daughter, Grazia, is the beauty of the family. Norina hopes to immortalize Grazia's beauty by having her portrait taken by the town photographer. The portraits of beautiful girls posted on the window of the photo studio are often noticed by rich men. A relative pays for Grazia's portrait and Norina's dream becomes reality when her daughter's picture is exhibited in the window of the photo studio. Daughters are a burden on the town's poor folks, with a dowry required to marry off each one. Grazia does everything in her power to help her family. She works as a maid and invites a friend to do a reading of a novel at her house. Most of the poor people can't read, and love to be read to. It's customary for the listeners to bring food when they come, and these treats become the Voltinis' dinner. A letter from America sheds light on the Voltinis' sky. The letter contains a marriage proposal for Grazia. Sal, the suitor, is a rich American. Norina begs her daughter to accept Sal's marriage proposal. If Grazia marries an American, the whole family can emigrate to America. Grazia fears that in avoiding the trap of poverty, she may fall into a trap of marriage. Still, a poor girl can't grant herself the luxury of being choosy when her family is starving. Will she be able to save them all?

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9781500333690

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Angela Sciddurlo Rago was born in Mola di Bari (Bari), Italy. Since her early childhood she has devoted herself to art and the theater. At the early age of 14, she joined the theater group Filodrammatica Molese directed by Don Lucio Pesce. With that group Angela participated in many productions and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the company. While devoting her time to the theater, she pursued with great interest and success her other artistic talent: painting. She was able to bring on the canvas her theatrical experiences. She was able to freeze on the canvas the drama of the theater. In 1978 she emigrated to the United States and continued her studies in art and Italian literature at Brooklyn College where she received the Pirandello Award for excellence in Italian literature. Upon graduating from Brooklyn College she continued her studies at the New York University. During this time she affirmed herself as an artist in the New York metropolitan area. In 1983 she received the Artist of the Year award from the International Beaux Arts of New York. Since arriving in the U.S., Ms. Rago has been sharing her time between her love for the arts: Theater/Cinema, Painting and Writing. She wrote and produced several theatrical works we find: Quel Tanto d'Altezza in Piu` , Il Valore dei Soldi , L'Onore nel Disonore , L'Amante Vedova - Widow and Mistress , Chi Ti Vuol Bene and Piu` Grande . In November 1987, Angela made her Off-Broadway debut with a production of Widow and Mistress. In 1994, she has also made her cinema debut by writing the screenplay of Italian Movie which was released in 1995 and in 1996 she made her film acting debut by playing the role of Shake's mother in the acclaimed film Sleepers. Since then she has appeared in movies such as: 2 Days in New York, Sister Italy, Falling Water and Santino. Recently she published an adult coloring book: Precious Animals and has published her first novel: Yesterday's Sky.

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