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A review by cbendixe
Murder in Matera: A True Story of Passion, Family, and Forgiveness in Southern Italy by Helene Stapinski
3.0
There is something about ancestor-search memoirs that gets to me every time, and this one is no different. Helene Stapinski goes in search of the truth to the family story about her great-great-great grandmother, Vita, a supposed murderess (if only I had the knowledge or resources to hunt down the truth of my family's stories! But I digress). The writing style is a little chatty at times, but the story of the murder and Vita and her family, her emigration to America, and the conditions she left behind in Southern Italy are compelling and suspenseful.
One thing that will stick with me is the total poverty of Italy in the 19th century, and the direct connection to the thousands and thousands of Italians who came to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tide was only stemmed when lawmakers were convinced of the racial inferiority of the Italian "race" (as well as Eastern European Jews), and placed restrictions on the numbers of those allowed to enter the U.S. But Vita and her two sons made it, and made lives for themselves here. It brings to mind the chorus of the song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" from The Hamilton Mixtape: a repetition of the line "Look how far I've come." This must be why ancestor-search stories get me every time.
One thing that will stick with me is the total poverty of Italy in the 19th century, and the direct connection to the thousands and thousands of Italians who came to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tide was only stemmed when lawmakers were convinced of the racial inferiority of the Italian "race" (as well as Eastern European Jews), and placed restrictions on the numbers of those allowed to enter the U.S. But Vita and her two sons made it, and made lives for themselves here. It brings to mind the chorus of the song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" from The Hamilton Mixtape: a repetition of the line "Look how far I've come." This must be why ancestor-search stories get me every time.