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Spanning five generations, the Scorta family saga begins in 1870 with Rocco Scorta Mascalzone, the bastard product of a rape and a notorious scoundrel. Burdened by a legacy of infamous crimes and forsaken loves, its lineage doomed to struggle, the Scortas nevertheless are blessed: with pride and a relentless faith in their own power. Their wealth lies in their memories and their collective belief in the pursuit of happiness. In a narrative both lyrical and linear, Laurent Gaudé interweaves a compelling story with a timeless message and the recollections of old Carmela as she delivers her final confession to the family priest, exposing the Scortas' most deeply buried secret.
This slender chronicle of a southern Italian family in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries won France’s Goncourt Prize. The family patriarch is a bandit who rapes a village woman and is stoned to death; his (rather willing) victim dies soon after childbirth. Their son becomes an infamous and wealthy outlaw, whose three children, left penniless when he bequeaths all his money to the Church, strive to reëstablish their name and their fortune. The already operatic story line is embellished with grandiose flourishes—burning desire that leads to an actual fire, guilt that gnaws until its sufferer starves to death—but, happily, it is also underpinned by a deeper concern with sacrifice and redemption.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
William Ferguson Ii
reviewed The House of Scorta on October 19, 2013 The House of Scorta
Blood is thicker than water, and in southern Italy in the late 1900's, family blood in the dirt-poor coastal town of Montepuccio was so thick you could walk on it. Carmela, with her three brothers, runs the family business of cigarette smuggling. Their mother, whom they called "the Mute," as did everyone else, died when they were very young. Carmela, when very old, tells most of the story in retrospect to the village priest so he can relate it to her newly-born granddaughter. "I was a sister my whole life long...when people hear of my death no one will say `Manuzio's widow died; they'll say the Scortas' sister died.' "The only happiness I've ever known was when I was surrounded by my brothers." The novel, translated from the French, was a winner of France's Goncourt Prize. The language, the irony, and the tricks of language in this book are beautiful. "Smoke, Don Salvatore, it will do us both good." "You can hardly hear what I'm saying. Don't let it bother you. I prefer it this way." "When I asked for a word with you... you gave a start ... as if a dog had started speaking." Read this book.
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