Crossing from Shore to Shore

What happens when a love story turns into a political nightmare? From the moment Amalia enters his shop, the immigrant shoemaker Erasmo imagines she will fulfill his dream of America. And their story begins in promise. The lovers are passionate for life and each other, but they both come to see the truth beneath the surface. Amalia has opened Erasmo’s eyes to inequality and the exploitation of the poor. Against the backdrop of the WWI Red Scare, while the Spanish Flu rages, Erasmo becomes embroiled in the battle between Italian anarchists and the federal government. The dream goes tragically wrong when Erasmo and his brother Giuseppe are framed for murder. The full story is revealed decades later when a great niece visits with the now elderly Amalia and begins piecing together the mystery her family wanted buried with the dead. Through three points of view, those of Amalia, the young Erasmo, and the great niece, the truth emerges: Only when the past is confronted will our ancestors stop whispering to us and finally be at peace.

Jean P. Moore was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Miami, Florida. She received her PhD in English and began her professional career teaching American literature and writing. Her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and literary journals such as?Upstreet, SN Review, The Timberline Review, Angels Flight Literary West, the Hartford Courant, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jean lives in the Berkshires in Massachusetts where she supports racial justice initiatives and facilitates book discussion groups.