The House that Giacomo Built: History of an Italian Family, 1898-1978 Book

The House that Giacomo Built is the engaging story of the struggle, perseverance, and success of an Italian working-class family in achieving its goals of stability and family unity. It begins with the relentlessly impoverished lives of Giovanni and Giulia in southern Italy at the turn of the century. We then follow the fortunes of their daughter, Maria, and her husband, Giacomo, and their four children, as they continue the struggle to achieve the greater prosperity that eventually becomes theirs. But as well as being a compelling family story, the book also reveals how extended families can defy the widely-held beliefs about the alleged disintegrative effects of industrialism and consequent prosperity on family organisation. In showing that the achievement of affluence does not necessarily entail the dissolution of strong family ties, as so often occurs in many modern industrial societies, it suggests a moral familism that will both shelter us from the world and open us up towards it.