A Song for Bellafortuna by Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco

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A wonderful book with rich descriptions that will draw you in from the first page.

The book is based in Italy in a small Sicilian village where the residents work hard to manage their vineyards and olive groves. The village used to be a producer of wonderful wine and olive oil, but now one just sees the remnants of the winery and olive presses as a wealthy family moved to the village and provides loans with high interest to families whose crops do not thrive. This family in a sense ends up ‘owning’ the villagers and their crops.

The villagers are not happy and are bogged down in despair and seek freedom. Music becomes important to them through church and a weekly orchestra/choir that performs for the village. Guiseppe and his father Antonio become the family that lifts the hopes of the villagers because of their love and appreciation for opera which is shared along with a plan to refocus the villagers despair into hope.

What I loved about this book was the importance of family and providing for one’s family, the sense of community, the importance of friendship and romantic love, the joy of music, and a belief in miracles.

The Italian scenery and opera houses are described in such a way as to make you wish you were there drinking a glass of wine while listening to opera……