As far as its residents are concerned, their own bustling corner of Spring and Thompson streets is the crossroads of the world. In the shadow of the bell tower of St. Anthony of Padua church and fire escapes dotted with fragrant pots of basil, the women of the neighborhood gather on the tenement stoop in the late afternoons before they go upstairs to start dinner.
Meet Teresa, Nicky’s mother; Magdalena, Salvatore’s stepmother; and Jumbo’s mother, Antoinette. Their milestones—christenings, weddings, funerals, holidays—play out against a colorful backdrop that seamlessly shifts from the teeming street to the intimate quarters above; from a cramped flat with a bathtub in the kitchen to a “status” apartment, the kind with pink and green checkerboard tiles in the kitchen.
Fiercely protective of their sons, this God-fearing trio is aware that crucifixes and rosaries alone cannot ward off the dreaded malocchio. And so each, in her time of maternal need, turns to the most powerful of Catholic icons—the Black Madonna of Viggiano—for across the sea in southern Italy, there is widespread belief in her magic. Here on Spring Street, Teresa, Magdalena, Antoinette and their sons soon find their lives transformed by what might be miraculous evidence of the Blessed Mother’s love—or perhaps, the extraordinary power of an ordinary mother’s love.
“The Black Madonna is fast-paced and delightful, one of those books you can’t put down until you’ve devoured every last word.” —The New York Post
“A zesty debut…the warmth and humor of this slice-of-lives storytelling are seductive. This engaging first novel has T.V. sitcom potential. —Publishers Weekly
Louisa Ermelino is a reporter for InStyle magazine. She’s worked at Time and People magazines and for the television show Top Cops. A native of the Italian neighborhood in New York City that borders Greenwich Village, she lives there with her husband, Carlo Cutolo. They have three daughters: Ariane, Ruby, and Lucy.
