(Reviewed by JD Jung)
Libby’s life was falling apart. Recently divorced, recovering from breast cancer, and struggling with her son’s heroin addiction, she felt lost and desperate for strength. Though she never got along with her own mother, she fondly remembered her loving Italian grandmother, or “Nonna”.
Though unable to read or write, Nonna was a remarkably strong woman who emigrated with her family from the poverty of a tiny southern Italian village, Rotondella, in the early twentieth century. Libby believed that by visiting Rotondella herself, she might draw upon the same strength and resilience that had carried her grandmother through hardship.
When she first arrived in Florence, she found that most Italians had never even heard of Rotondella, let alone speak their dialect. What she experienced in this search was only part of the story.
Author and narrator Libby Cataldi alternates time and location between her home in Pittsburgh and her expedition in Rotondella. Initially, I didn’t understand why and found it rather annoying. However, I soon realized the structure’s necessity, as it enables the reader to gradually discover the life-altering family secrets and the complex relationships between Libby, her mother, and her Nonna. The transitions between timelines build suspense while enriching the emotional depth of the story.
It Takes a Lifetime to Learn How to Live is a moving and deeply personal memoir about strength, family, resilience and most of all, forgiveness. A must-read.