Zoe Boccabella

The Proxy Bride is a dual timeline historical fiction by Zoë Boccabella, an Australian author of Italian descent. The two parts of the story begin in 1939 and 1984. Sixteen-year-old Sofie is sent to spend the summer with her Nonna Gia in Stanthorpe. Although Sofie is unimpressed with this decision and has some sulky moments, she also has a deep affection for her grandmother, and gradually becomes intrigued by her stories, secrets that have lain buried for generations.

Gia tells her of her proxy marriage. While living in Palmi, Calabria, she was married off by her family to Taddeo Poletti, an Italian immigrant in Australia. She and a friend Serena are sent on the “bride ship” full of Italian girls emigrating to meet their arranged-marriage husbands. Gia’s story is about the difficulty of adjusting to such an arrangement, of the racism towards the Italian immigrants, and then the internment of Italian men during the war as enemy aliens, despite the fact many had lived in Australia for years and some were even born in Australia. Gia and her small circle of Italian women band together to continue farming the orchards, joined by the reclusive artist Edie and two women from the Australian Land Army. Gia is torn between loyalty to an absent husband she did not choose and a developing love for an Australian man.

As Sofie listens to Nona’s story she seeks to puzzle out her own mystery. Why does her family never speak of her own father? Why does she not even know his name?

This was an engaging read and the audio narration was excellent. The story is based on elements from the author’s grandparents’ lives as immigrants and brings into sharp relief the harsh attitudes and awful way Italians were treated, and how difficult it was for them to assimilate into this new country. I enjoyed this story.… (altro)