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We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

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The Italians at Cleat’s Corner Store

Jo Riccioni

'[A] lovely sense of history and place … with acute observations on village life both English and Italian … A very confident first novel.'

Launceston Examiner

'[A] heartwarming, vividly observed tale of smalltown life, exploring love, prejudice and identity in the wake of World War II.'

Pittwater Life

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'A rich debut novel. Riccioni weaves together romance and tragedy, and captures a vivid sense of history and place, in a story that is at once expansive and personal.'

Portia Lindsay, Books+Publishing (FOUR STARS)

In 1949, the arrival of an Italian family sets tongues wagging in the village of Leyton, an English farming community still recovering from the war. For seventeen-year-old Connie, however, the newcomers provide a tantalising glimpse of the wider world — a world beyond the gossip and petty concerns traded over the counter of Cleat’s Corner Store.

Under their father’s stern eye, the Onorati brothers adapt to their new life in remarkably different ways. While the charismatic Vittorio is determined to reinvent himself and embrace all things English, the solitary Lucio is haunted by the secrets of his past — events that tether him to the war in the mountains of Lazio.

As both brothers begin to cast an unexpected influence over Leyton, Connie realises that, like them, she must grapple with her ambitions and dreams for the future. But what can any of them hope to find in the ruins of all they’ve lost?

The Italians at Cleat’s Corner Store is a heartwarming, vividly observed tale of small-town life, exploring love, prejudice, and identity in the wake of World War II.

'[A] lovely sense of history and place … with acute observations on village life both English and Italian … A very confident first novel.'

Launceston Examiner

'[A] heartwarming, vividly observed tale of smalltown life, exploring love, prejudice and identity in the wake of World War II.'

Pittwater Life

View all reviews

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 135mm

Extent:384pp

ISBN (13):9781922070883

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:31 Mar 2014

Rights Held: World

High-res cover:Download Image

BOOK CLUB NOTES:Download PDF

AWARDS

2015 Rubery Award for Fiction - Winner

CATEGORIES / tags

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) FICTION / General Historical fiction Sagas FICTION / Historical FICTION / Sagas

AUTHOR

Jo Riccioni

Jo Riccioni was born in the UK to an Italian father and English mother. She worked in Singapore and Paris before settling in Sydney, and she has a master’s degree in literature from Leeds University. Her short stories have been read on the BBC and Radio National, and published in The Best Australian Stories 2010 and 2011. Her story ‘Can’t Take the Country out of the Boy’ has been optioned for a short film.

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