"Nella Castellucas is an Italian-American girl living on a farm outside of Philadelphia in the early 1900's. She longs to go to high school and be a teacher. However, she must quit school at 15 to help support her family. She goes to work in a blouse factory. At 16, the owner of the factory taps her to be a forelady, because she is so smart and hardworking. She falls in love with the smartest and most goodlooking boy in town, but he leaves her to pursue his dreams elsewhere. She marries a man who works with her in the factory. They save their money and open up a blouse factory of their own. When her husband dies at 50 years old, she realizes that she has worked too hard all her life. She sells the factory and moves back to the farm.
The book gives a description of what it was like to grow up in an Italian-American community.
"
Susanna Marlowe, Resident Scholar
Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!
Review Analysis of Queen of the Big Time
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Inside culture (main char)
- Italian
Other aspects:
- immigrant story
Poverty, surviving
Yes
Kind of living:
- general poverty story
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- American Northeast
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- small businessman
Age:
- long lived adults
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 (an above average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Italy
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
