Why this book; Recommended as a book to read before my upcoming trip to Sardinia.

Summary in 4 Sentences: We learn early on what a “soul-child” is in Sardinia – a child who is given up to another adult – not a biological relative – to raise for whatever reason. This book is about the life of such a “soul-child” and her adopted mother in a small village in Sardinia in the 1950s. The “Accabadora” is the adopted mother – and denotes a person who is called upon to help a dying person (and their family) prepare for the transition between life and death – in America such a peson is called a “doula.” The book is about the life of the a young girl soul-child, how she grows up and her eventual estrangement from her adopted mother, departure from Sardinia, and eventual return and reconciliation.

My Impressions: A short book of 175 pages and beautifully written/and translated from the Italian. The story was simple and compelling, no overly dramatic “page-turning” events, but a simple and straightforward evocation of some of the identity issues of a child given up for adoption in her own village – in this case her continued relationship with her biological mother and siblings. We experience the somewhat narrow perspectives of many of those who live lives of routine and hard workin small rural villages, the pressure to conform and the power of gossip.

The protagonist is Maria, the soul-child herself, and we watch her grow up in the community where her biological mother and siblings also live, overcoming a bit of prejudice for having been farmed out from her biological family, and where all know her as a “soul-child,” vice a regular child in a regular family. That said, the main character in the book is Bonaria, the stern but fair, quiet and loving older lady who adopted her – who had no children of her own, but had been engaged to be married to a soldier who disappeared in “the Great War” – WW1. When he failed to return – she never learned what happened to him – she never married and was on her own to survive. She thereby became a talented seamstress to whom people came from near and far for her to make clothes and other items at home. She had always wanted a family and when she saw that Maria’s mother, nearly destitute had a fourth child, she offered to take the child in and raise her as her soul-child. As she grew up, Maria became her assistant and learned the trade of being a seamstress.

We and Maria learn later in the book that Bonaria’s occasional mysterious departures in the evenings were to serve as an “accabadora” – to quietly help the dying with their transition. Maria had no idea until later in the book, when the fate of the son of one of the more prominent families in the village took him to the edge of death. At this point Bonaria was faced with a challenge that put her in conflict with her own values and ultimately with Maria.

Maria subsequently left Bonaria’s home, went overseas to Turin where she worked as a Nanny for a couple of years, ultimately to return to Bonaria, when Bonaria was facing her own death.

I really liked this book – for its simplicity, its elegant writing, and how it evokes life in a rural village (I was reminded of village life as depicted in The Tiger’s Wife and Zorba the Greek)