STRADDLING THE BORDERS—The Year I Grew Up In Italy

Straddling The Borders—The Year I Grew Up In Italy by Martha T. Cummings, ISBN 9780828320368, Illustrated, 222 pages Jo, an Italian-American woman, moves to Italy to connect, on a spiritual level, with her nonno, the grandfather she never knew. Along the way, she experiences an Italy that romps inside and outside the guidebook descriptions of the land – an Italy that forces her beyond the lines of her well-ordered life. Italy’s boot kicks hard with humor, fear, loneliness, love, and unparalleled friendship, until Jo finally learns not to kick back. Martha Cummings drew on her Italian roots and trips abroad to write her first novel about the object of her passion – Italy. Martha was born and raised in the outskirts of Boston, MA, after which she spent nearly 20 years as an administrator and a teacher in independent schools.