For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter—but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.
Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free.
Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel—which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture—is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.
Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free.
Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel—which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture—is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.
My Rating: 9/10
I was supposed to have read this in high school but I was sick that week and so the teacher told me to just watch the movie. My brother however got to read this at school and the reluctant reader that he is, gave me his copy afterwards.
First of all, I am something like 5th generation Australian so whilst I couldn't personally understand the cultural elements in this story, I did go to a catholic school with so many students of Italian heritage just like the protagonist Josie.
I absolutely loved this book. I think it is my favourite Australian contemporary novel and the best Melina Marchetta book I have read so far.
I loved the whole family dynamics - the relationships between mother and daughter of multiple generations and then the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. It was like Gilmore Girls with a more cultural focus.
This on its own would have made a fascinating story but then the whole cultural difficulties get thrown in and it becomes amazing.
Josie's mother got pregnant as an unmarried teenager and her deeply catholic Italian immigrant mother has never really respected her since.
On top of all this, Josie's father comes to Sydney where Josie lives. The grandmother not knowing he's the guy who corrupted her daughter all those years ago is all friendly with him, meanwhile he has no idea he even has a daughter.
Then there is the whole exploration of the relationship between father and daughter which is really the essence of the novel.
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