Colomba Furio-Spigner, author of Francesco’s Song: A Story of Love, War and Survival and resident of Plandome Manor, will be on PATV Channel 20 Access Spotlight on Fridays and Mondays in March at 5:50 p.m. for a discussion of her book.
The novel, based on letters and wartime documents found in the author’s family home, is a moving portrayal of the struggles of the Italian people during the war years and the customs that bound them. The novel is set amidst the drama of Fascist Italy and is the gripping story of one man’s struggle to survive.
Furio-Spigner is a technologist and educator. She holds a doctorate from New York University, where she researched the cultural background of Italian immigrant women and its impact on the unionization movement in the New York City Garment Industry and published several scholarly articles on this topic. She was an information technology professional on Wall Street for over 10 years where she worked as a programmer and systems analyst before making a transition into teaching. She taught for more than 28 years with the New York City Department of Education and continues to teach part-time. An avid photographer and artist, she lives in Plandome Manor with her husband, Matthew, and sons, Michael and Frank.
Inspired by family history, Furio-Spigner tells the poignant story of young Francesco as he grows up in the small seaside town of Mola di Bari. The saga of birth, love and death in rural southern Italy unfolds as the country is pulled into the cataclysm of world events. Francesco’s carefree youth ends when the oratory of Mussolini and the pervasive false sense of patriotism seduce him and he joins the military police of the Italian armed forces, the Carabinieri Reali. Stationed in Yugoslavia and later in Milan, he finds everything he treasures threatened as he confronts events during the war and witnesses firsthand the destruction of his homeland. Fleeing the occupying Nazis, Francesco is sheltered by sympathizers of a growing resistance movement. He enters the darkest period of his youth, in which his only dream is to be reunited with his family and Francesca, the love of his life.
Francesco’s Song: A Story of Love, War and Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book.
