A Heart Most Worthy

February 15, 2011
Julietta enjoys flirting with boys and wishes she were American rather than an immigrant from southern Italy. Annamaria, from another town in the same area, is serious and devout, resigned to being the family drudge. Luciana, fted only child of the Count of Roma until his recent assassination, now goes in fear for her life, especially after glimpsing the anarchist near the shabby Boston tenement she and her grandmother now occupy. The three young women meet and share confidences over their work at Madame Fortiers, the exclusive gownmaker whose most important client is the formidable Mrs. Quinn. Each girl battles prejudice in her own way, helping her family adapt and merge into the great American melting pot of cultures. Mitchells inspirational historical romance, set in 1918, skillfully contrasts the girls traditional Italian-Catholic upbringing and the bustling, exuberant American lifestyle they crave, using the Great War and Spanish influenza pandemic as an effective backdrop to the young womens first important steps in self-awareness on the way to adulthood.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)