My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily
Gilda Morina Syverson, 2014
Divine Phoenix and Pegasus Books
277 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781941859100
Summary
In this multigenerational memoir, My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily, Gilda Morina Syverson travels with her Italian-born father, Italian-American mother, and very-American husband to the villages of her ancestors. This trilogy tale leads the reader through ancient sites of Rome, landscapes of a picturesque countryside, seaside villages of Sicily, olive trees in the valley of Mount Etna, while contrasting an emotional journey between a father and daughter.
Former North Carolina Poet Laureate, Joseph Bathanti, says, My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily, is a travel book in every sense. Syverson—a savvy, funny, elegant tour guide—expertly escorts us through the gorgeous time-locked terrain of Italy, but also along the often precarious byways of the heart. This book risks everything: its humanity, its courage, its sheer unbridled candor, the moving sweep of its poetic language and its refusal to turn away from the breathtaking mystery of love and ancestry."
William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Cape Cod and The Lincoln Letter says, "Travel south from Rome with Gilda Morina Syverson. Let her show you her ancestral land through the eyes of her closest ancestors, her parents, who travel with her and her husband. It's a trip well worth taking...vividly observed, richly detailed, gently humorous, and deeply poignant. The only thing better would be a trip to Italy."
This Novello Literary Award Finalist exudes passion, eloquence, heartfelt language, and ancestral roots. With love, humor, angst and a quest to uncover a heritage, our author is about to experience the journey of a lifetime.
Author Bio
• Birth—February 25, 1949
• Where—Syracuse, New York, USA
• Education—B.S., State University of New York College, Buffalo; M.F.A., Southern Illinois University
• Currently—lives in Cornelius, North Carolina
Gilda Morina Syverson, artist, poet, writer and teacher, was born and raised in a large, Italian-American family in Upstate, New York. Her heritage is the impetus for her memoir, My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily.
Syverson's award winning poems and prose have appeared in literary journals, magazines and anthologies in the United States and Canada. Her writing has been published in Conspicuous Accents, Accenti Magazine’s Finest Stories of the First 10 Years, Italian Americana, Sweet Lemons 1 & 2, International Writings with a Sicilian Accent, Descant, Philadelphia Poets, Charlotte Viewpoint, Cold Mountain Review, VIA (Voices In Italian Americana), Main Street Rag, Iodine Poetry Journal, among others.
Gilda is also the author of the full-length poetry book, Facing the Dragon, and the chapbook, In This Dream Everything Remains Inside. Her commentaries have been aired on WFAE, Charlotte, N.C.’s public radio station.
Gilda has taught in the Creative Arts for over 35 years and is a long-time memoir instructor, including 15 years at Queens University of Charlotte. Her fine art has been exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. Her angel drawings and prints are in a number of collections throughout the United States, Canada and Italy. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Gilda on Facebook.
Book Reviews
Dannye Romine Powell - Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News & Observer
Thanks to a note from Susan Walker, a fellow Antiquity resident, Around Davidson learned of Gilda’s many talents, not the least of which is her newly published memoir, My Father’s Daughter: From Rome to Sicily, published by Divine Phoenix in conjunction with Pegasus Books. Gilda’s story was a Novello Literary Award Finalist and for the first 5 weeks after its release in December of 2014, it was on Amazon’s No. 1 Hot Best Releases for Sicily Tour Guides.
Brenda Barger - Around Davidson, Davidsonnews.net
To read this book is to know that the places we’ve lived, the places we’ve known, the places and people we come from stick with us in ways we don’t always understand. [Syverson's] work is the stuff of houses and homes and the fixtures they contain, a mapping of experience and how we share it, a way of, as Syverson herself has put it in her poetry, "seeking our own kind" from wherever we happen to be. (From Introduction at Southern Recitations.)
Bryce Emley - Raleigh Review
Syverson’s latest creative work, a Novello Literary Award Finalist, is her book, My Father’s Daughter, From Rome to Sicily. The idea for the book started when Syverson and her husband traveled with her elderly parents to Italy. "I never imagined in a million years I’d go there," she said …"When I came back from Italy, all that was on my mind was the trip. I went to a writer’s group, brought in essays and poems I’d written, and all I could think about was I had to get this story down...."
Lisa Daidone - Charlotte Observer
Discussion Questions
1. As the reader sits alongside our author on the cross-Atlantic flight to Rome, what emotions are evident? What does this adventure of a lifetime potentially entail?
2. Some of Gilda's strengths as well as her challenges came from a more traditional Italian-Catholic upbringing. Were you raised in a culture that did not always fit the new beliefs that you discovered on your life's path?
3. When Gilda sits in St. Peter's piazza, she has glimpses of appreciation for her religious upbringing, despite her feminist leanings. Are there aspects of your spiritual upbringing, or lack of one, that give you strength despite the differences you may now have as an adult?
4. For years, our author had asked her father to travel to his hometown roots, in Sicily. Has there been any country or part of the world associated with your own heritage that you've had a desire to visit? Is there anything about your past that you would like to discover?
5. A psychic once told Gilda that, in a past life, she lived as an ancient, aristocratic woman in Rome. Is there a city, country or certain area of the world that you have a yearning to visit, even if you have no idea what is calling you there?
6. On the train from Rome to Sicily, Gilda, her parents, and her husband find themselves in a compartment with a German couple. Watching them, Gilda feels that there are cultural differences. Have there been times in your life where you have encountered someone speaking another language or participating in a tradition foreign to you? How did it make you feel? How did you respond?
7. On the ferry from the mainland of Italy over to Messina, Sicily, Gilda is aware of a quiet that overcomes both her parents—especially her father, when he sees his homeland again after 30 years. Is this silence in any way an indication of what may lie ahead as they step onto the island of Sicily? What kind of mood do you find yourself in when you're about to step into a new place, or step back to an old one?
8. When all four travelers arrive in the small town of Gualtieri Sicaminò, the cousins—who haven't seen Gilda's father in decades—receive them with open arms. How do we, as a culture, receive unexpected guests that knock at our doors? Have you ever shown up at someone's door and realized, Uh-oh, I should have called first?
9. When Gilda's father says good-bye to his cousins, Pasqua and then Pasqualino—probably for the last time—the feelings expressed by those present run a gamut of emotions. What is it like for you to say goodbye to a close friend or relative, a child who is leaving home for the first time, or a parent or partner who is dying?
10. When our travelers leave Linguaglossa, Gilda's mother mentions that there were still things that she wished she could have seen or found. Are there questions that Gilda's mother had that you still want to know about? If you are a mother or grandmother, what wisdom do you want to impart?
11. Both Gilda's parents had a chance to say farewell to their regions—her mother, when standing in the ancient ruins of Taormina, and her father, when on the ferryboat from Messina back to the mainland. This pivotal scene provides the backdrop for us to ponder our family roots and travel adventures. Share any thoughts that surface from reading about this experience.
12. Back in Rome, Gilda's father wanted to see the balcony where Mussolini, while still in power during World War II, addressed Italy. Are there any historical figures—positive or negative—you would like to meet or see in action?
13. How do you think Gilda and her father's relationship changed over the course of the trip, from the United States through Rome, Italy, Sicily and back home?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)