My father was an Italian prisoner of war during World War II and my Mom was a local Sicilian girl in the French Quarter.” I was floored, and immediately thought, “someone should write a book about this.” It took me a while, but eventually I was that someone.īarb: Most people associate New Orleans with people with French, Spanish, and Creole backgrounds. We were swapping stories about growing up in Italian families and he said, “well, my parents were a little different. I stumbled across the story when I met a man named Joe Faroldi, a local chef in New Orleans, back in about 2003. How did you get interested in this topic?Įlisa: You’re not alone! I’ve talked to so many people-World War II history buffs, Italian Americans, New Orleans folks-unless people had some direct interaction with these prisoners of war, most people have no idea. I have since learned there were 4000 German POWs in Maine. I also think of it a “book club fiction,” because it’s the kind of novel that gives you plenty to think about and discuss after you’ve read it.īarb: I have to admit I knew nothing about WWII POWs in this country until I read your book. From a genre perspective, it is historical fiction. The Italian Prisoner is about Italian prisoners of war in New Orleans during World War II and the Sicilian-American community that offered them goodwill and support.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |