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The characters in this collection are embroiled in situations that test their limits with each other, outsiders, and themselves. They are navigating relationships and grappling with issues of translocation, language and identity, religion and culture, and food. These stories portray some of the dark places that the characters inhabit physically, emotionally, or metaphorically, with surprising twists that sometimes provide a flicker—or even a bright beam—of hope.
Excerpt from “Alligator Shoes”
Sina got along with other kids in our Grade 8 class, but something in her sensitive, hesitant manner brought out the worst in some of our classmates. One was a boy called Kevin. His moon-shaped face, with its dark craters for eyes and bumpy complexion, could have easily elicited an unkind remark or two from others, but somehow, even with all his aesthetic shortcomings, he was the first to zone in on any weakness in another student, physical or otherwise. Come to think of it, he often targeted the ones who were blessed with good looks, good manners, and good marks.
Perhaps we were too afraid to do anything but laugh when Kevin flung a smart-ass remark at any of us. Afraid that maybe he’d shove his platter of a face next to ours, skim us with a sandpaper cheek, and stare us down with his sunken eyes, eyes like hardened slag . . .
READ MOREWe never expected that Kevin would ignite a series of rumours about Sina that would reverberate in the neighbourhood like seismic shudders, that would create havoc and uncertainty in the minds of her friends, causing many of them to shun her. Sick lies that would even shake the solid foundation of her family.
COLLAPSEDarlene Madott, award-winning author of Making Olives and Other Family Secrets wrote:"Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli's stories interweave themes and recurring characters into a marvelous tapestry of cultural expression and cultural dissonance. She negotiates these byways with warmth, insight, and a true mastery of narrative ellipsis. Although she never flinches from darkness and tragedy, the generosity of spirit in this work will, for the reader, act like a balm for a troubled age."
"These stories have an intriguing and child-like gaze that also turn a spotlight into some very dark corners – high-school bullying, sexual abuse, and childhood trauma. Notwithstanding the bones in the broth that threaten to choke, this collection is pigeon soup for the soul that rewards its reader. It may be the wonderment, the ultimate resilience or pushback of some of its characters. Whatever the ingredients, hats off to a brave Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli for making us Pigeon Soup."
