Introduction

The Wooden Spoon is, in essence, an Italian Roots. The story traces the arrival of an Italian family from Sicily to America. Using actual historical events as a backdrop, we follow the family from being immigrants to fully mainstream Americans without them ever losing their rich Italian culture.

Blend of Fiction and Non-Fiction

Because the book is based on unverified stories told around the kitchen table [hence the changing of surnames], as well as actual events, The Wooden Spoon is a compelling blend of fiction and non-fiction; a multi-cultural experience within a semi-autobiographical memoir. In many respects, it is also a woman's story as well as the primary characters are women. The book's title is derived from the women cooking in the kitchen, with an ever-present wooden spoon, or at the kitchen table with coffee gossiping away.

Family and Characters

You’ll watch Maria and Rosario’s six children grow and raise their own families; their eldest daughters (the author's mother and grandmother) and youngest child (the author) meeting the man she’ll marry at the book’s conclusion. Along the way, the reader will bond with the family, making them their own. They’ll share countless laughs and spill many tears as they spend 54 years with the family.

The Family Story

Another property of the book is that it embraces the beloved aspects of the Godfather-type stories with very, very little Mafia references. It was the psychodynamics of an Italian family which sustained those stories. Here, the family IS the story.

Recommendation

If you liked Moonstruck, you’ll love The Wooden Spoon.