Books by Adria Bernardi

Openwork

A novel depicting the intertwined lives of three generations of three Italian families, in which two women separated by a hundred years retell the stories in order to make a whole out of the remnants left by immigration.

“An epic tale of love, loss, and longing.  A family, riven by poverty and calamity, yet united by a craving for justice.  Bernardi’s powerful emigration tale illuminates the Italian American soul.”
-Louise DeSalvo

The Day Laid on the Altar

The interconnecting journeys of the shepherds, artists and artisans in this novel begin in a remote 16th century Apennine village, continuing through terrains of rich and poor to the Tuscan plains, and onto the household of Titian.

“This book enters you as you enter it.  You feel you are being shaped somehow as you read.  You are the grain on the threshing floor.”
-Martha Faketty, ThirdCoast

In the Gathering Woods

Time spans 400 years in these stories, the places range from from a remote Apennine mountain village to Chicago , and the characters include a solitary man making cave art, a man waiting for Minnie Minoso at a veterans' hospital, and a pre-verbal infant telling a story.

“Adria Bernardi’s characters are in love with the mysteries and quirks and strange inevitabilities of language and its power to shape memory.  Bernardi’s stories, which range from Chicago to Italy, have both strength and a lovely delicacy, and are deeply rooted in her own fascination with language.”
-Jane Hamilton

Houses with Names

The Italian Immigrants of Highwood , Illinois.   An oral history and essays of 50 Italian immigrants in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

“Gracefully written, Houses with Names adds a new chapter to Illinois history, immigration studies, and urban folklore. The stories are touching, eliciting tears and laughter, a rare accomplishment.”
-Gary R. Mormino