Like famous Italian-American women from Geraldine Ferraro to Carmela Soprano, almonds can range from sweet to bitter. Like those quintessentially Mediterranean nuts, the pieces in this impressive anthology are, with varying degrees, gentle and piercing. Some are best read alone over a cup of steaming cappuccino, while others pack more of a punch when read out loud with sisters or girlfriends. Editors DeSalvo (Vertigo) and Giunta (Writing with an Accent) have collected a vast, thoroughly wonderful assortment of poetry, memoirs and stories from more than 50 writers that defines today's female Italian-American experience. There are the requisite tales of women winning men's hearts through their stomachs (in "Love Lettuce," Flavia Alaya writes about her Dutch husband's status as "Italian by marriage"), but these accomplished writers—who are also editors, filmmakers, novelists and translators—go beyond relationships with men to delve deep into their own psyches, exploring the balance between the self and the family, a strain that many modern Italian-American women feel. Carole Maso ruminates on motherhood and the "unstoppable emotion" that a sad Sicilian lullaby creates in her in "Rose and Pink and Round." Nancy Savoca's "Ravioli, Artichokes, and Figs" tells of the author's dying mother, who, after refusing food for days, agrees to share a fig with her daughter ("She ate the little piece I offered her. I was so happy. I ate the rest"). Differing widely in subject, yet keeping food the central theme, these pieces will undoubtedly prompt female readers to contemplate the influence of their own grandmothers, mothers and aunts; the comfort of their culture and cuisine; and their own place in the world. (Sept. 1)
