Not To The Manor Born

Author Donna Clementoni<br>mining the resources of <br>history and hearsay<br>pens a portrait of<br>her Italian-American relatives<br>in poetic tribute to their<br>immigration to America in search of<br>a better life for their families.<br><br>Their trials and tribulations<br>are recounted in<br>charming and colorful verse<br>as they assimilate into their new land<br>move into its neighborhoods<br>fight in its wars<br>and pursue the American Dream.<br><br><br><br>They were not to the manor born.<br><br>Intrinsically they understood<br>that there are those <br>who lord over the land<br>and those who labor.<br><br>Immigrants from the Mezzogiorno<br>Italy's poorest region south of Rome<br>belonged to this less fortunate<br>fraternity.<br><br>These amazing pioneers<br>out of sheer desperation<br>or fearless determination<br>charted the course for<br>all their descendants to follow.