You Were There Before My Eyes, Maria Riva
You Were There Before My Eyes, Maria Riva
2 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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You Were There Before My Eyes
A Novel

Author: Maria Riva

Narrator: Elizabeth Wiley

Unabridged: 20 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/19/2020


Synopsis

A woman leaves her Italian village and enters a new world as an immigrant in Detroit in this sweeping novel by a New York Times bestselling author.

In a small village in Italy at the turn of the twentieth century, Jane chafes at stifling routine and tradition. So when an opportunity presents itself to immigrate to America, her hunger for escape compels her to leave everything behind. Far away, in Henry Ford's factories in Michigan, a new kind of life is taking shape, and it offers gleaming promise for Jane and her young husband. Determined to survive, and even thrive, she will find herself seeking fulfillment and building a family while navigating not just a new language and country, but a world poised on the edge of economic and social revolution, with the Great War looming on the horizon.

From the chaos of Ellis Island to the melting pot of a midwestern industrial city, You Were There Before My Eyes is rich with colorful characters and vivid period details, an authentic portrait of the immigrant experience that poignantly captures the ever-evolving nature of the American dream, and "a dazzling historical saga of love, adventure, war, hardship, and discovery" (Allan Levine).

About Maria Riva

Maria Riva was born in Berlin in 1924 and is the only child of Marlene Dietrich. Riva performed in Germany and Italy as part of a USO troupe during World War II and taught acting at Fordham University upon her return to the United States. She has performed on Broadway, radio, television, and film and has been nominated for an Emmy. Riva continues an active life in California and spends time visiting her sons and grandchildren.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Annette

As the story starts in a small Alpine village of Cirie, proud of its chemist monks, the action is a bit slow. Once Giovanni visits his small village of Cirie and tells stories of America and how he makes cars in Detroit, Giovanna gets intrigued how everything sounds so innovative, and that’s when th......more

Goodreads review by Emi

Bluntly straightforward story about the history of Henry Ford's empire, told through the experiences of a cross-section of its immigrant employee community living in Highland Park, Michigan. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit myself, and felt pretty knowledgeable about Ford-lore until reading this,......more