"Cerrone tells her story in a deliberative prose...perfectly evoking both the setting and time period of this piece of historical fiction. The tale brings to mind American literary realism of the early 20th century—Upton Sinclair, Jack London—as well as the books of midcentury Sicilian writers like Leonardo Sciascia. Cerrone uses Ntoni’s experiences to shed light on the little-remembered soccorso morto practice, which held thousands of children in virtual slavery...A well-crafted and affecting literary tale."—Kirkus Reviews
"...a powerful survey that brings to life and personalizes the plight of child laborers and their experiences, highly recommended for any who enjoy historical novels in general and, particularly, those who look for cultural insights and social messages in fiction readings."—The Midwest Review, April 2017
"Cerrone tells this salt of the earth story in raw, blunt terms, via a naturalistic mode worthy of Emile Zola (as in works such as Germinal, his masterpiece about striking coal miners). She digs beneath the facts of exploitation to dramatize visceral sensations and emotions. The Hunger Saint creates a vivid world of appalling poverty and cruelty. But there is mercy: for this boy, slavery will not be destiny."—The Arts Fuse
"Powerful writing...This is a story that is very moving, and...certainly memorable."—San Francisco Book Review
"Cerrone’s book oozes authenticity...For the book’s characters, war has obliterated some of the finesses of polite society where people who have long lived together must peacefully co-habitate...Cerrone scarily conveys a sense that in this life, it’s not easy getting out alive."—Jeanne Bonner, Consequence Magazine
"The Hunger Saint is an exquisitely written, vivid, and engaging novella...Cerrone's story prizes resilience and the human spirit."—The American
“It is the author’s capacity to create confidence through clarity that keeps us reading, revealing events that might have evoked disgust in a reader. Cerrone deftly keeps us reading on as she relates a tale of a family faced with the unthinkable.”—Times of Sicily
"...a good read for anyone interested in Sicilian history...the plight of the working class. The carusi and the sulfur mines are a part of history that I was unaware of, and if that’s the case for you, then I would deeply recommend this novella."—Seattle Book Review [A 5-Star Review]
"Cerrone’s The Hunger Saint is what I would call, unreservedly, a tour de force, a small but powerful novella...the story she tells is multi-layered and complex, so much so , that the reader may have a very visceral reaction to the story."—Sempre Sicilia
"Well-researched, The Hunger Saint is a snapshot out of time, a picture of the desperate struggle to survive in a post-war world."—Manhattan Book Review
2017-03-15
A debut novella tells the story of child workers laboring in Sicily's sulfur mines. Sicily, 1948. After his father is killed in a mining accident, 12-year-old Ntoni is sent by his mother to take the dead man's place: "She signed Ntoni over to the Miniera Cozzo Disi mines to work off the soccorso morto, a loan given to his family on the promise of his labor." The contract is for seven years. As one of the carusi—or child miners—Ntoni faces backbreaking conditions that will likely lead to a premature death. He has no recourse but to pray to St. Calogero, the Hunger Saint, and hope that his indentured servitude will pass quickly. When the mine's mechanic, Ziu Peppi, tells the boy that his father had been putting money away to immigrate to France, Ntoni is offered the same opportunity. He could escape his life and build a new one abroad, though he is unsure what this might mean for his family and its debt with the mining company. His mother assures him that his father had planned no such thing, but Ntoni decides to trust the mechanic—though to trust anyone, it turns out, may be just as dangerous as gas pockets, tunnel collapses, and the brutality of the mine bosses. Cerrone tells her story in a deliberative prose flecked with Italian terms and mining jargon, perfectly evoking both the setting and time period of this piece of historical fiction. The tale brings to mind American literary realism of the early 20th century—Upton Sinclair, Jack London—as well as the books of midcentury Sicilian writers like Leonardo Sciascia. Cerrone uses Ntoni's experiences to shed light on the little-remembered soccorso morto practice, which held thousands of children in virtual slavery. The most memorable elements of the novella are the horrific conditions in which Ntoni and his peers must toil: "Each month at least one miner or caruso perished in some way. Yet they continued to work, resigned to their proximity to death." In this proximity, Cerrone seeks to discover the necessities of life. A well-crafted and affecting literary tale about a young Italian miner.
