This story captures the immigrant experience of a diverse group of Europeans, most of who live in a boarding house in Highland Park, Michigan and work for Henry Ford. The story begins in 1913 and covers almost 30 years. The author does a meticulous job of recounting Ford company history, so much so that at times I felt I was reading a history book rather than a novel. The author clearly shows how Henry Ford, first seen as a benevolent father figure to his immigrant workers, went from hero to enemy in the eyes of many employees, when he embraced fascism and published anti-semitic propaganda. In addtition to weaving Ford history into the story, other major historic events including WWI, Spanish flu, women's right to vote, the Great Depression, and the start of WWII are included. Small events like the first soda shop and invention of Detroit's beloved Vernor's soda are included, too. I believe history buffs will like this book.

The story is mostly written from the perspective of Giovanna (later Americanized to Jane), an Italian girl who so desperately wants to escape her loveless, small town life that she bargains into a marriage of convenience in order to come to America and start a new life. I had trouble "warming up" to Jane. An intelligent woman, she was painted as very naive and compliant. Her character did not grow and mature as quickly as I would have expected of someone who loved to read and quickly learned languages. Jane's husband, John, was consistently painted as an idealist who was devasted by Ford's actions at the beginning of WWII. John's final act of defiant liberation was a bit unexpected (no spoiler).

The story of 1900s immigrants to America, and the early life of the Ford motor company. Giovanni needs a wife to support his new life at the Ford Motor Works in Detroit. Giovanna is keen to leave Italy and seek adventure in America. A match of convenience, this story depicts the lives and experiences of immigrants to the USA. Beautiful character descriptions really bring the individuals to life, as you follow their lives. The detail of the day to day events and trials faced really brings the characters to life, as I found myself really willing them to succeed. The book offers a particularly fascinating insight into the earls years of the Ford motor company and the overbearing views of Henry Ford, depicting the shocking ways in which he interfered in the lives of his workers. I did find the midsection of the novel somewhat lengthy, and felt the overall story may benefit if this section were shorter. Overall an enjoyable and educational read, with a fascinating insight into the birth of the Detroit motor industry and the lives of the immigrants who made it all possible.

An Interesting read about immigrants that came from Italy to the United States. It depicts their acculturation and adjustment to life in America and the heartache that was experienced.

I like to learn when I read, and You Were There Before My Eyes really opened MY eyes to the history of the Ford Motor Company and how it treated the European immigrants who built it up. A group of immigrants come together in Detroit looking for a better life in America, and wind up fighting the same type of oppression they fought at home. Well-written, engaging book.

When John returns to Italy to find a wife, Jane seizes the opportunity to move to America. John, a worker at the Ford factories, and Jane live in a boarding house along with several other immigrants. Jane quickly befriends Hannah, the mistress of the house, who helps expand Jane's world.

I have mixed feelings about the book. I liked and enjoyed the characters but I found the story itself very unsatisfying. The author spent a lot of time analyzing the characters, which she should have left up to the reader. The story itself was a bit dull, lacking vibrancy and excitement. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.

I really struggled with this one because the dialogue was terrible, there wasn't much of a plot, the characters were flat, and the author liked to head-hop. While there's nothing wrong with a character novel that doesn't have much of a plot, or a plot driven novel that has somewhat one-dimensional characters - but there has to be a strength in one of them and this has neither. Add to it the cringe-worthy dialogue and the head-hopping narrative, and I just feel like it was poorly written.

It was disappointing because like many Italian-Americans, this story is one very similar to those of my own ancestors: from a rural Italian village, came to America in the late 19th/early 20th century as a young family seeking better opportunities for their future and their children's. It did reflect much of the cultural history I'd found in my genealogy research, but that's about the only good thing I can think to say about this novel. I so wanted to love this - hell, I would have settled for just liking it - but I couldn't.

Bluntly straightforward story about the history of Henry Ford's empire, told through the experiences of a cross-section of its immigrant employee community living in Highland Park, Michigan. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit myself, and felt pretty knowledgeable about Ford-lore until reading this, yikes! I had no idea there was so much dark back story; and author Maria Riva does an excellent job weaving it through the telling of American involvement in the World Wars and the Great Depression, and with a somewhat romantic story arc around Giovanni and Giovanna as their marriage matures.

To be fair and completely transparent I was not able to finish this book. The book is mostly about the marriage of convenience of Giovanna and her husband John. Convenience eventually turns to something more, but for the I struggled to become engaged with the text. I really tried but I'm almost half way in and it's not happening. I do see some reviewers said it got wonderful half way in so I'm tempted to try again, just not today.

This is a story about the experiences of a group of immigrants who left European countries in the beginning of the 20th century and found themselves making Ford cars on an assembly line in Michigan.

Giovanni had returned to his Italian hometown to find a wife. When his first choice refused him, he picked the motherless Giovanna instead. Much of the book deals with Giovanna & her family but also friends she made once she got to Michigan. The first thing the young married couple did was to change their names to John and Jane to sound more American. Their first home was a boarding house where Jack had lived before his marriage. Hannah and Fritz, the boarding house owners, treated John, Jane and the other single immigrant men who lived there as cherished children. Eventually John was able to buy Jane and their children a home but they remained close friends with Hannah and Fritz.

The period covered by the book was from the early 1900s right up to the Second World War. The treatment of immigrants from their trips on overcrowded ships from Europe through their reception at Ellis Island to their feelings of homesickness for their native land are explored. All the main characters worked for the Ford Motor Company and were subject to Mr. Ford's conservative ideas and strict rules. Few of them could afford the Model Ts that they were making every day. World War I and the Spanish Flu that coincided with America's entry into the war, both effected the immigrants.

I enjoyed the book but did feel that it was a bit long. It would have been an easier read if it were reduced about 100 pages.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is wandering mammoth of a story, in roughly the same vein of generational stories like The Thorn Birds, but it falls short of the aforementioned's greatness because of some serious flaws.

The first thing that jarred me was the shifting third-person perspective that bounces from person to person in the same chapter, and often back and forth on the same page. I don't mind shifting perspectives in a story, but a clean change in perspective at a break mark or a chapter heading gives the reader a comfortable shift instead of a mid-paragraph awkward jump.

There was also the near-unforgivable naming of the two main characters of Giovanna and Giovanni--again, VERY uncomfortable for a reader (even if they are extremely common Italian names). About a quarter of the way in, their names changed (for the most part) into John and Jane, which was a slight improvement, but the damage of the previous choices was already done, and I was annoyed.

Being a historical story, I expected history--and lots of it--and that's where the story delivered. I learned almost everything I needed to know about the early development of the Ford empire and how its founder evolved into the man who was buddies with Hitler. But even there, I struggled to enjoy the story because often times those sections of the book felt more like strings of facts and less like a story.

By about three-quarters into the story, it picked up and I was almost propelled to the end, but three-quarters is a long way to drag a reader into a story before they're hooked.

However, there is something "everyday-ish" to the story, a sense of familiarity that I felt with the characters and the story. The writing style lends itself well to this, even with the previously mentioned errors.

So ultimately, taking the whole of it into account, I'm giving it 2 1/2 stars, rounded to 3.

As the story starts in a small Alpine village of Cirie, proud of its chemist monks, the action is a bit slow. Once Giovanni visits his small village of Cirie and tells stories of America and how he makes cars in Detroit, Giovanna gets intrigued how everything sounds so innovative, and that’s when the action starts picking up.

As Giovanni and Giovanna make their way to America, Giovanna discovers the unknown lands spreading outside Cirie. The richness of French chateau and its display out in the open, so opposite to hidden villas of Italian courtyards. As they continue their journey in America, Giovanna’s discovery transports reader to the early 20th century America: the vast lands and its distances, the air of American ladies, the way they carry each other. All this and more transports the reader to the time of American boom, of Henry Ford and the largest auto plant in the world of the time.

The time period brings not only American boom, but also dark clouds gathering across Europe. On July 28th the Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. And President Wilson proclaims the US a neutral nation with no affiliations.

As Giovanna makes her new home in Detroit, their story progresses from living in a house full of tenants to living in their own house with family expanding.

The author vividly portrays the time period of early 20th century America. The influx of Europeans going through Ellis Island. The American dream of prosperity and equality for everyone. Henry Ford introduction of profit sharing and higher wage of Five-Dollar-a-Day, mass production.

However, not even half-way-through the story starts to read as an encyclopedia. The life stories set against Henry Ford progression and invasion of his worker’s privacy sounds more as a list than a story. The owner of the first house they live in is German. I understand the author trying to bring authenticity to the story, but reading Germanized English gets tiring after a while.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. The novel started out slow and to be honest I was struggling to stay with it. However, about half way through it really hit it's stride.

The novel centers on the life of Giovanna. She endures the death of her mother, survives her father, and finds her way to America by becoming the wife of an idealistic Italian boy who is determined to become just like his hero Henry Ford. They make their way to Detroit, and make a life for themselves. We get to see the world change through the eyes of the immigrants in this community. Prohibition begins, WWI comes and goes, antisemitism starts to become more prevalent, the great depression hits hard, and WWII begins.

Much of the story centers on the married life of Giovanna, who renames herself Jane to be more American and her husband John. While this started as a marriage of convenience, it slowly over the years turned into a marriage built on love.

We have a varied cast of characters from many different European countries that also call Detroit home. They along with Jane and John, become friends and family.

I was intrigued by the life working immigrants lived while working for one of the most respected Americans of the time, and how eventually even he would turn against them. Their friendships were built on shared struggles and mutual respect for one another. Hannah and Jane's friendship was especially sweet. It was interesting to see the dynamic change between Jane and John throughout their time together. Jane is able to find herself throughout her journey and emerges better for it.

While this novel basically describes the day to day life of these characters it does so in a way that transports you. With every word Riva brings to life early 20th century Detriot. You feel for the characters, and really get a sense for how hard it was to be an immigrant and try to make a life in America. Many times they are torn between their loyalty to their new country and loyalty to the old one. All in all, it was a worthwhile read. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

The story begins, "The morning her mother died, Giovanna gave up on God." An only child, raised by a remote father and disciplined by the nuns in a quiet turn-of-the-century Italian village, Giovanna is determined to escape the inevitable future planned for her. When the brother of a friend returns to the village to choose a wife with certain qualities for a perfect marriage. When his chosen fiance turns him down, Giovanna volunteers to marry Giovanni and travel with him to America to start a new life as his wife.
Nothing prepares Giovanna for Ellis Island and the train journey to Detroit where her new husband works in the Ford factories. Renaming themselves, Jane and John, they are determined to fit into life in their new neighborhood and the culture surrounding employment in the Ford factory. Henry Ford has strong opinions about how his employees should behave and rewards those who are married. It is 1913 and the factory is installing the first assembly line to produce the Model T. John, a leader among his immigrant friends at the factory, is optimistic about the many opportunities available by working at the plant. Jane is determined to be a good wife to John and to make him proud of her, even if the many norms and customs in America are strange to her. With the advent of World War I, their world becomes one of suspicion, loss, and betrayal.

I’m reading this one now, You Were There Before My Eyes by Maria Riva. I love books about immigrants in the early 1900s so naturally, I was swept up in this story from the first page!

I’m only about 1/4 the way through so I don’t have a fully formed opinion but I like it a lot so far thanks to the rich details of the setting and characters.

Synopsis:

Sweeping and panoramic, You Were There Before My Eyes is the epic and intimate story of a young woman who chafes at the stifling routine and tradition of her small, turn-of-the-century Italian village. When an opportunity presents itself for her to emigrate to America, her hunger for escape compels her to leave everything behind for the gleaming promises await her and her young husband in Mr. Ford’s factories.

Determined to survive, and perhaps even thrive, young Jane finds herself navigating not just a new language and country, but a world poised upon the edge of economic and social revolution—and war. As Jane searches for inner fulfillment while building a young family, the tide of history ebbs and flows.

From the chaos of Ellis Island to the melting pot of industrial Detroit, You Were There Before My Eyes spills over with colorful characters and vivid period details. Maria Riva paints an authentic portrait of immigrant America and poignantly captures the ever evolving nature of the American dream.

If you enjoy books about immigrants you will probably like these books too: Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan, When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt, A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers by Hazel Gaynor, The Birth House by Ami McKay.

Great historical fiction. Both moving and surprising!