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Title: My family history in a novel
Review: This novel was written in 1889 and set in 1863 in a Sicilian fishing village within walking distance of Verga's native Catania. My paternal great-grandparents spent their lives in a similar village on the northern coast of Sicily. Reading this novel brought back my Grandmother's voice telling stories of the fishermen with variations on the proverbs, superstitions, Catholicism and village gossip of Verga. In Verga's novel, ownership of the house is lost through payment of a debt to preserve the Malavoglia's family honor. In my family, the two fishing boats were sold to protect the family honor from a false accusation. In the Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel, Verga is written about extensively in a chapter about realism. This book is a delightful validation of social history in post-unification Sicily. These peasants were hard-workers whose family and religion gave meaning to their lives.
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