The House that Giacomo Built: History of an Italian Family, 1898-1978

by Donald S. Pitkin

Overview

The House that Giacomo Built is the engaging story of the struggle, perseverance and success of an Italian working-class family to achieve its goal of stability and family unity. It begins with the unremittingly impoverished lives of Giulia and Giovanni Tassoni. We later follow the fortunes of Maria, their daughter and her husband Giacomo. They continue the struggle for a life of greater ease, which is eventually achieved when Giacomo builds the family a new house on a plot of seven acres won in a lottery, thereby transporting them into modern times. Industrialism in the area brings further prosperity to the family. In addition to being a compelling family story, the book also vividly shows how extended families, like the one established by Giacomo and Maria, seem to defy the widely held beliefs concerning the alleged disintegrative effects of industrialism and consequent prosperity on family organisation. Although they have achieved a relative affluence, members of Italian families like theirs do not seek independence from the family group but choose to remain together, without feeling that they are forfeiting their right to be individuals in their own way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521103879
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/11/2008
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Prologue; Introduction; 1. Stilo 1898–1933; 2. Valmonte 1933–1943; 3. The War; 4. The travail of Concetta; 5. The engagement and marriage of Maria Tassoni and Giacomo Rossi 1948–1953; 6. The births of Luigi and Bruno; 7. The births of Teresa and Caterina; 8. The house of Giacomo; 9. Life in the country; 10. The house of Luigi; 11. The house of Bruno; Conclusion; Notes; Index.