Four Women (Quattro Donne): A North End Love Story

Four Women is a historical fiction taking place in Boston’s colorful North End, “Little Italy” in the summer of 1949, a time when families lived together in a close-knit community, slightly larger than one square mile. Four Women touches on two cultures, the Italian world with its customs and traditions and what was termed the American world existing just beyond its boundaries, focusing on the spontaneity that so often arose through their interaction. Four Women is about family bonds and the central place the Church played in establishing worship, continuity, community and a feeling of safe harbor. This is the story of Lucia, matriarch of her family, widowed for 9 years, and her intense relationship with her three daughters: Angie, Stella and Carmela. Into this mix arises the unexpected love story of Pietro, the son of Velia Conte, a Roman noble woman, and Gerardo Petruzelli, a successful Lawyer, brother of Lucia.