The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna - Juliet Grames

This books takes off with a bit of a bang.  It is the story of the long live of Stella Fortuna - born in a small rural village in Italy.  I could picture the small village home where she was raised by her mother and grandmother after her father goes to America and is rarely at home.  It is here that Stella has a few misfortunes and is lucky to survive. 

When finally the family are reunited in the US, the streets are not paved with gold and the family work hard to provide a life and future for them and their new families and children.  A different pace to the first half of the book, I did enjoy the story of the sisters and what eventually drove them apart.   A wonderful debut novel from a great storyteller.   4/5