Carusi: The Shame of Sicily

Book excerpt: A fiery explosion in the sulfur mine kills his father leaving 5 year old Aspanu head of his family. -His mother struggles as she is faced with signing his life away as an indentured servant, saying he will now work in the 100+ degree mines to pay off their debt. -When the townspeople see no real change in their working conditions regarding their safety, and the people are fed up with unfair labor practices, they hold clandestine meetings to stage a massive riot in the square. -Civil unrest boils and comes to a head. Impending, dangerous backlash looms when the mine owners find out. -Aspanu's mother's 'connections' warn her to not be in the square when the riot takes place, and she in turn tells her son, but he doesn't listen. -Screams, dark clouds of explosives, thunderous noise, and dead bodies line the streets. One of the bodies is someone who Aspanu loved dearly. -Emmigrating to America, he tries to forget his heart-breaking past and make a new life for himself. -He learns a lot about the values we all hold dear, and where the church, the mafia, and freinds and family fit in to that picture.