Review: Seeds of the Pomegranate by Suzanne Uttaro Samuels
Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Suzanne Uttaro Samuels to Ruins & Reading. I'm sharing my review of her compelling novel, Seeds of the Pomegranate. If you enjoy gritty historical fiction, with plenty of drama, this one's for you. Read on!
Seeds of the Pomegranate is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find fascinating historical background posts, enticing excerpts, and more, HERE!
Seeds of the Pomegranate
Review:
Seeds of the Pomegranate is one of those novels where the blurb immediately pulls you in. And as you follow Mimi's incredible, but harrowing journey, you will find some unexpected twists.
In the beginning of the novel, Mimi is in Sicily, a young art student with a great talent. Attending art school to further her knowledge and develop her style, her future as an artist looks bright. Then illness strikes, rendering her too sick to continue with her dreams. Mimi is distraught.
When her father moves the family to America, her life changes completely. As they are drawn into the bustling underworld, like many other new arrivals who are trying to survive in an overcrowded city, it is Mimi's artistic skill that leads them to get involved in the murky business of counterfeiting.
When events escalate, Mimi's inherent determination to stay with her family rather than seeking a new, safer life for herself elsewhere is to her credit. Her loyalty knows no limits, even when it means having to face the consequences.
Will Mimi escape the dreadful circumstances, and gain the life she was always dreaming of? Well, read the novel to find out!
Seeds of the Pomegranate is a compelling story of dashed hope, new beginnings, and of loyalty. Even when dealing with the Mafia, loyalty is expected, even when life becomes almost unbearable.
In Mimi, Ms Samuels has created a remarkable protagonist – full of hopes and dreams, flawed, yet resourceful. Her sense of realism makes her do things she'd otherwise never contemplate. Despite that, her insistent loyalty to her family makes you want to shake her sometimes. The family is blessing and curse at the same time.
The research undertaken for this novel is impressive. We get a close-up glimpse at what New York was like for many early 20th-century immigrants – grimy, dirty, crowded, and often dangerous. The squalor, high unemployment, and lack of rights (especially for women) are real. Criminal gangs control the arrivals almost from the word 'go'. Trying to survive and make a living without connections – especially as a woman – is nigh on impossible. Mimi realises that quickly, as do we as readers.
Seeds of the Pomegranate makes for rough reading at times, yet there is a heart, and a sense of hope against all hope. It's not a light historical read about a young woman and her intrepid adventures; it's a realistic, enthralling story about an impoverished Italian immigrant, hampered by illness, but blessed with intelligence and a rare talent that saves her from starving.
This realistic novel makes for compelling reading, but take your time with it. It is not a book to be rushed.
Highly recommended!
~~~
Blurb:
A gritty story of a woman learning to survive in 20th century Gangland New York
In early 20th-century Sicily, noblewoman Mimi Inglese, a talented painter, dreams of escaping the rigid expectations of her class by gaining admission to the Palermo Art Academy. But when she contracts tuberculosis, her ambitions are shattered. With the Sicilian nobility in decline, she and her family leave for New York City in search of a fresh start.
Instead of opportunity, Mimi is pulled into the dark underbelly of city life and her father’s money laundering scheme. When he is sent to prison, desperation forces her to put her artistic talent to a new use—counterfeiting $5 bills to keep her family from starvation and, perhaps, to one day reclaim her dream of painting. But as Gangland violence escalates and tragedy strikes, Mimi must summon the courage to flee before she is trapped forever in a life she never wanted.
From Sicily’s sun-bleached shores to the crowded streets of immigrant New York, Seeds of the Pomegranate is a story of courage, art, and the women who refused to disappear.
Buy Link: Universal Buy Link
Connect with Suzanne:
Comments
Post a Comment