Description

On November 11 1943 the Nazis invaded Cansano forcing its two thousand inhabitants to make a tough decisionfight and be killed or sent to a POW camp stay behind as servants to the Nazis or move into the unforgiving mountains of Abruzzo while the Nazis used their village as a home base Giovanni Ruscittis family chose the latter and spent the next few months living in horrendous winter conditions in the rugged mountains When the war ended they returned to a village so ravaged by the Nazis that today the town has less than two hundred citizens and remains in a dilapidated state

In this memoir Ruscitti visits Cansano for the first time with his family including parents Emiliano and Maria As he walks Cansanos cobblestones his fathers stories and life are illuminated by the town piazza the steep valley and the surrounding mountains He relives the tales of his parents struggles during World War II their extreme postwar misery and poverty their budding romance after and their decision to immigrate to the US in search of the American Dream

Ruscittis adventure is not just an exploration of his homeland but reveals what family culture wisdom and love really means And what our heritage really tells us about who we are