Not To The Manor Born

Author Donna Clementoni,

mining the resources of

history and hearsay,

pens a portrait of

her Italian-American relatives

in poetic tribute to their

immigration to America in search of

a better life for their families.

Their trials and tribulations

are recounted in

charming and colorful verse

as they assimilate into their new land,

move into its neighborhoods,

fight in its wars

and pursue the American Dream.



They were not to the manor born.

Intrinsically, they understood

that there are those

who lord over the land

and those who labor.

Immigrants from the Mezzogiorno,

Italy's poorest region south of Rome,

belonged to this less fortunate

fraternity.

These amazing pioneers,

out of sheer desperation

or fearless determination,

charted the course for

all their descendants to follow.