Oddyssey

Born in 1942 under a bridge in a small war-torn village in southern Italy, Teresa Renda spent the first 17 years of her life searching for the truth of how she came into the world---a secret that no one in her village would speak of---while navigating the only universe she knew: one of bombings, soldiers, famine, and terror, but also one filled with the joys and simple pleasures of tight-knit communal life, with its ceremonial feasts and ritual processions, wine making and olive oil...
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Born in 1942 under a bridge in a small war-torn village in southern Italy, Teresa Renda spent the first 17 years of her life searching for the truth of how she came into the world---a secret that no one in her village would speak of---while navigating the only universe she knew: one of bombings, soldiers, famine, and terror, but also one filled with the joys and simple pleasures of tight-knit communal life, with its ceremonial feasts and ritual processions, wine making and olive oil pressing, set against a lyrically painted scenic backdrop. Just before leaving her little village for a new world in Canada at age 17, Teresa finally discovers the gut-wrenching circumstances of her birth, a secret of her own that she would carry onto the harrowing transatlantic journey, and for decades to come.