In this episode of The Italian American Podcast episode, we speak with Marianne Leone who is an actress and an author. She wrote an inspirational book about her son (who she lost way too early) entitled Jesse: A Mother’s Story (Simon & Schuster) and then a second book entitled Ma Speaks Up: And a First-Generation Daughter Talks Back (Beacon Press) about growing up with an Italian immigrant mother. In the episode, she talks her son and what she learned from him.  She also talks about grief, her writing, and about her role on the Sopranos.

In the stories segment, we talk to a talented author, Olivia Kate Cerrone, who wrote a book called the Hunger Saint (Bordighera Press) that focuses on the Carusi (children in Sicily who were forced to work in the sulfur mines at very young ages).  Cerrone talks about this topic in detail and what led her to write this book.