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Rosina
In Rosina, Miriam Polli brings the heartbreaking story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti to life through the eyes of Nicola’s young wife, Rosina. Polli’s retelling captures the period’s social tensions, portraying Rosina as an innocent, convent-raised girl who emigrates to America with high hopes and optimism. She marries Nicola, a passionate advocate for workers’ rights and nonviolent protest, and soon finds herself drawn into his world. Polli poignantly shows us a young woman in love who matures through sacrifice and suffering. A sensitive exploration of love, loyalty, and the consequences of bigotry, Rosina is even more relevant today in the current climate of social strife and prejudice against immigrants.
Author: Miriam Polli
Paperback, Hardcover, 2025, 250 pages
ISBN-13: 9781947175853
Miriam Polli’s debut novel In a Vertigo of Silence was named one of the Best Indie Books of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews. Her stories and poems have been published in commercial and literary magazines and are included in two anthologies. She received recognition from the Italian American Writers Association for her story “Gifts of Grief” and an honorable mention for the World’s Greatest Short Short Story Competition, where there were several thousand entries. Her poem “First Born” won the 11th Annual Robert Frost Poetry Contest. She is also a recipient of a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. A native New Yorker, Miriam now lives in Virginia.
“ROSINA by Miriam Polli is a gripping tale of Italian immigrants navigating upheaval during the Red Scare. A richly woven story of love, loss, and resilience that captures the deep toll of injustice while balanced with vivid characters. An excellent journey through history and heartache.”
—David Beaumier- ChantiReviews
“Immersive…engaging. This is historical fiction I can get behind. The narrative, sense of scene, and characterization take this well above anything else I’ve read in the genre.”
—Andrew Gifford, Santa Fe Writers Project
Polli poignantly shows us a young woman in love who matures through sacrifice and suffering only to find her dreams shattered at the end: her dreams of a peaceful family life, and the American dream of equality and justice. A sensitive exploration of love, loyalty, and the consequences of bigotry, Rosina is even more relevant today in the current climate of social strife and prejudice against immigrants.
—Linda Lappin, author of Loving Modigliani
The narrative moves deliberately through the great social upheaval of the first quarter of the 20th century, painfully tracking Nicola and Rosina’s inexorable path to the tragic sham trial that stands as a shameful episode in American history. Undergirding the historical narrative are the couple’s love story and Rosina’s personal travails, adding emotional color and context to an oft-recounted tale. Sad and disturbing, with a message relevant to today’s anti-immigrant fervor.
—Kirkus Reviews