When We Were Strangers
Pamela Schoenewaldt

Harper
January 2011/ ISBN 9780062003997
Fiction
Amazon

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

Sixteen-year-old Irma Vitale leaves her small Italian village armed with only her small dowry and her sewing skills. She goes to America hopefully to join her brother, Carlos, who left for America a few years ago. She secures passage on the Serva. She goes to Cleveland where her brother had said he was going. She doesn't find any trace of him. She finds work in a sweatshop sewing men's collars. Her dream is to go to Chicago to become a dressmaker for wealthy women. In Chicago she is hired as a dressmaker by Madame Helene. She is successful in her work, but tragedy strikes when she is raped. The pharmacist refers her to Signora Sophia D'Angelo who runs a clinic and will perform a safe abortion for her. Irma becomes Sophia's assistant in her clinic work and eventually leaves for San Francisco on Sophia's advice to join a clinic there.

This is a powerful story about a young immigrant coming of age in the late 19th century. Irma is strong with a determination to overcome all obstacles. The characters who help her are memorable: Lulu, an African American cook; Molly, an Irish maid with aspirations of property ownership; Sophia, an Italian nurse who finally sets Irma on the path for her ultimate destiny. There are breathtaking descriptions of the time, places, people and even the food. This gives a clear picture of the trials facing immigrants in this time of history.

A book highly recommended.

Reviewer's Note: