Re-publication on May 10 of Alfred Lewis' quasi-autobiographical novel "Home Is An Island" (set in Fajãzinha das Flores). I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! (Of course, my paternal grandfather was from Fajãzinha, and came to Northern California too). Kathie.
"UMass Dartmouth reprints old novel about Azores": http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120503/PUB03/205030311 Tagus Press at UMass Dartmouth, in partnership with the University Press of New England (UPNE), will publish "Home Is an Island" by Alfred Lewis, a classic novel long out of print about boyhood in the Azores during the early 20th century. Set in the mid-Atlantic, halfway between Portugal and the United States, "Home Is an Island" captures the simple, pastoral life in a village of the Old World where the popular imagination is permeated by the wonders of America and its promise of wealth and opportunity. The novel calls attention to the balancing act of dual identities and divided loyalties in individuals and communities. The novel received much critical acclaim, including two reviews in The New York Times, and was highly praised by the well-known American novelist Patricia Highsmith, who wrote, "One does not often find a novel that reads like a poem, that tells a simple story in a simple prose, and yet is heroic, a novel of importance." Congressman Devin Nunes, R-California, said: "Lewis' classic book remains relevant today. 'Home Is an Island' says a lot about America and immigrants in the early 20th century and how they decided to come to America. It describes in countless ways how Azoreans viewed themselves as Americans long before they left the Azores." Lewis (1902—1977), born Alfredo Luís on the mid-Atlantic island of Flores in the archipelago of the Azores, was the son of a 19th-century whaler who sailed the seven seas and eventually became a gold prospector in California before returning to his homeland. Lewis himself immigrated to California in 1922. Having learned English only after arriving in America, he went on to study law and became a municipal judge in the San Joaquin Valley. Lewis was the first Portuguese-American writing from an ethnic perspective to claim the attention of the general reading public. He is also the author of "Sixty Acres and a Barn: A Novel." "Home Is an Island" is volume 17 of the Portuguese in the Americas Series published by Tagus Press at UMass Dartmouth, the publishing arm of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture. The publication of "Home Is an Island" was sponsored in part by the Luso-American Foundation. A launching of the novel, which was originally published in 1951, will take place at UMass Dartmouth May 10 at 5 p.m. (Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives). -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
