Overview
Illiterate and poor, the daughter of a herdsman in 19th century Brazil, Anita Ribeiro was lifted from a life of obscurity to one that is the stuff of romance and adventure. When she and a young Italian exile by the name of Captain Garibaldi met in 1839, they joined in the cause of founding a Brazilian republic. Later they went on to lead the defense of Montevideo from an Argentine siege—just one episode among many in their idealistic, nationalistic crusade in a time of immense revolutionary upheaval. It was Anita who taught Garibaldi the guerrilla ways of the gauchos, and they lived as man and wife through a series of adventure and wars. Returning to Italy in 1848 to fight for a united republican Italy, as revolution swept throughout Europe, Anita and Garibaldi were tragically separated by her untimely death the following year. Garibaldi went on to ultimate fame as the father of modern Italy—while Anita's story drifted into the mists of legend. This book, the first full biography of the remarkable life of Anita Garibaldi, tells the true story of a fascinating and important woman.
Synopsis
The startling biography of the woman who joined the cause and transformed the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the man who united Italy in 1860.
Chicago newspaper - Fra Noi
In Valerio's hands, the little we know of Anita through earlier accounts becomes enlarged and takes on a life of its own. Beyond the boring facts of history we gain the spirit that made those facts important enough for us to remember over a century after her death. "Anita Garibaldi: a Biography" is a mosaic portrait composed from dozens of sources and different voices, united through story as bona fide history. While what we have in writing about Anita Garibaldi has been known for some time, Valerio provides new insights to this historical information not by coming up with new information, or by revising earlier accounts, but by applying the novelist's tricks to the biographer's trade. This synthesis brings us new perspectives on a life that is normally overshadowed by her husband.
Just as Valerio varies sentence length and sounds to create various paces, he also varies the length of the chapters so that they become more like scenes in a dramatic film and less like sections of a predictable documentary. Most of the writing is so good you'll almost forget it has an academic base until you consult the endnotes, bibliography, or index, all accurate and helpful.
Editorials
Fra Noi
In Valerio's hands, the little we know of Anita through earlier accounts becomes enlarged and takes on a life of its own. Beyond the boring facts of history we gain the spirit that made those facts important enough for us to remember over a century after her death. "Anita Garibaldi: a Biography" is a mosaic portrait composed from dozens of sources and different voices, united through story as bona fide history. While what we have in writing about Anita Garibaldi has been known for some time, Valerio provides new insights to this historical information not by coming up with new information, or by revising earlier accounts, but by applying the novelist's tricks to the biographer's trade. This synthesis brings us new perspectives on a life that is normally overshadowed by her husband.Just as Valerio varies sentence length and sounds to create various paces, he also varies the length of the chapters so that they become more like scenes in a dramatic film and less like sections of a predictable documentary. Most of the writing is so good you'll almost forget it has an academic base until you consult the endnotes, bibliography, or index, all accurate and helpful.
—Chicago newspaper