Salesianum Graduate Chris Castellani Signing New Book At School Library On Nov. 1

1990 grad has written his second novel, The Saint of Lost Things

Salesianum is pleased to welcome back one of its graduates, Chris Castellani '90, who will be reading and signing copies of his latest novel, The Saint of Lost Things, in the Rev. Thomas A. Lawless, OSFS Library on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

Light refreshments will be provided.

In The Saint of Lost Things, Castellani explores the lives of Italian-American immigrants in this eloquent, leisurely tale about dreams and disappointments, a follow-up to his debut novel, A Kiss from Maddalena.

Here, Castellani picks up Maddalena Grasso's story in 1953, when she is seven years settled in Wilmington, Del., but Òalways crying, always looking backward.Ó She left her beloved Italian village for America, imagining that she and her new husband, Antonio, would live the American dream, but Antonio's ambition of owning a restaurant remains just out of reach, and beautiful Maddalena, once an aspiring actress and model, now sews piecework, pining for the family she left behind. Maddalena befriends Guilio, a lonely, middle-aged accordion player mired in grief since the death of his elderly parents, and they eventually help each other find the courage to move past their own regrets. (She finds hope in a long-awaited pregnancy, though she will face a difficult labor.) By structuring much of the novel in flashbackÑalbeit to reflect Maddalena's mentalityÑCastellani slows the story's momentum, but the natural, easy beauty of his prose captures the Italian-American immigrant community of a bygone era. Excerpt taken from PublisherÕs Weekly.

Salesianum School is a Roman Catholic independent secondary school that teaches young men to Live Jesus, guided by the spirituality of Saint Francis de Sales, through a college preparatory education, enabling them to take their place in the world as Salesian gentlemen.