The Courtyard of Dreams

This culturally rich first novel by Anna Monardo tells the story of seventeen-year-old Giulia Di Cuore, a first-generation Italian-American growing up in the 1960s. The young protagonist struggles with the old-world values of her father, who insists that she travel to Italy to visit her extended family. To her own surprise, Giula discovers there her place in the world as a daughter, as a woman and as an American."A novel of great beauty and perception."-Pat Conroy"An important novel which examines the metaphor of ocean crossings."-Professor Teresa Picarazzi, University of Arizona