Shortly after my grandfather’s death I traveled to Sicily for the first time, determined to piece together the pasts of these women who remained behind. It was the first of many trips that I would make to the island. During the course of my post-doctoral research in the early 1980s, I came across the recently recovered short stories of Maria Messina. In those compact texts, I discovered the sad reality of ordinary Sicilian life as my emigrant grandfather, his sisters, and mother had experienced it. The current volume reflects in part both my personal and scholarly relationship with Sicily—its history, culture, literature, and tragedy of emigration—as well as my desire to bring Maria Messina’s writings to an English-speaking audience.

This work would not have been possible without assistance from many quarters. I would first like to express my debt of gratitude to the late Claudio and Giuseppina Buttà of Sant’Angelo di Brolo, Sicily, who so kindly opened their home to me when I was a student thirty years ago. Their warmth, generosity of spirit, and interest in helping me research my own family’s stories, stimulated my interest in turn of the century emigration and the literature of the period. I am also grateful to the Buttà children who have continued their parents’ gracious traditions and who welcome me with open arms whenever I am in Sicily.

From the outset of the project, I was fortunate to have the support of Dr. Antonino Testagrossa, Giuseppe Ciccia, and Nella Faillaci, all involved with the Progetto Mistretta, an organization dedicated to preserving Mistretta’s rich cultural past. Their extraordinary knowledge of the town’s history, willingness to grant me access to precious archival materials, and readiness to meet with me at every turn, greatly facilitated my research on Messina while I was in Sicily.

As a translator, I would like to express my gratitude to friends and colleagues Francesca Zanoncelli of Parma, Italy, Giancarlo Campolmi of Florence, Italy, and Professor Nicoletta Tinozzi Mehrmand at the University of California, Riverside, for their helpful suggestions along the way. I would also like to acknowledge Paulette Simpson of Juneau, Alaska, and Michael Baumgaertner of Stanford, California, for their thoughtful comments and careful editing of the final manuscript. My most sincere thanks, also, to Florence Howe at The Feminist Press for recognizing the importance of Messina’s works and for all of her assistance in bringing the translations to print.

This work has benefited enormously from an ongoing scholarly exchange and friendship with Professor Francesca Parmeggiani of Fordham University. Her knowledge of Italian women writers, insights into historic content, and gift for discerning linguistic nuances in both the original and translated texts, significantly enhanced the overall quality of the manuscript. In addition, her constant encouragement and sensible advice during all phases of the project were of inestimable help to me, and I will always be grateful for her guidance.