The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

A Novel

By: Juliet Grames

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents - moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted.

In her rugged Italian village, Stella is considered an oddity - beautiful and smart, insolent and cold. Stella uses her peculiar toughness to protect her slower, plainer baby sister, Tina, from life’s harshest realities. But she also provokes the ire of her father, Antonio: a man who demands subservience from women and whose greatest gift to his family is his absence.

When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and Tina must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them. Soon, Stella learns her survival is worthless without the one thing her family will deny her at any cost: her independence.

In present-day Connecticut, one family member tells this heartrending story, determined to understand the persisting rift between the now-elderly Stella and Tina. A richly told debut, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is a tale of family transgressions as ancient and twisted as the olive branch that could heal them.

©2019 Juliet Grames (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Didn't want this book to end!

This story captured me from the first chapter. The narrator was superb!
I am American/Italian with 3/4 being Calabrese. Listening to this book, I was growing up right along side of Stella and Tina. It was rich in expression, history, heart and soul. At times it was hard to hear, but unfortunately, that's the way some Italian men are. (not the nasty part at the later part of the story) They can treat their woman as second class citizens.
Makes me treasure my Grandfather who came over from Calabria, all that much more. He was a gem.

A gripping story

I enjoyed the book greatly. An interesting and sad insight into lives of women not too long ago

Apic

Starts as a story of repeated strange occurences, builds into a story of an extended family and concludes as what it is, a historical tale of time and change. Apic..

Amazing

This book was recommended to me so I could learn a little about my Italian roots. Being adopted by a non-Italian family, I have been long detached and ignorant of the lifestyle, struggle, and evolution of old world Italian families and generations to come. I’ve learned a lot on the last year, and this book was very beneficial. Lots and lots of emotions. Thank you

Beautiful but haunting

Sooooooo good but damn so hard to listen to. 10/10 would recommend tho! So much research and history involved, I wondered if it was based off a true story!!

Excellent narrator and story

This was an enjoyable family history story. The narrator was excellent and really made me feel for each character.

Misogyny at its worst

Do not read this book if sexual violence triggers you. I hated this book because Stella is broken relentlessly over and over. I had hoped for an ending that validated her pain. But no, only pain. Is it realistic? Yes. Women trying to survive under violent men who abuse their bodies and souls is all too real,

Great narrator.

The fist half was excellent, while the family was in Italy. The second half was a bit boring.

trigger warnings

I loved the story and the narrator did a wonderful job. I would recommend to someone interested in this story.

Amazing

A must listen. Such an interesting story of a rarely explored part of Italy, the lives of women there, immigration and the limitations placed upon women.