Kiss Carlo is a meandering family story that takes place over a few years in post WWII Philadelphia. The Palazzini family lives together in a large house containing Uncle Dom and Aunt Jo, their three sons and their wives, and a cousin, Nicky. The men all work together also in the family cab company.
What no one knows is that Nicky has been moonlighting at a struggling Shakespeare theater. He's a stagehand but an emergency forces him onstage mid-play and makes him realize that he wants to act. He also has a man die in his cab which forces the realization that he isn't doing exactly what he wants with his life. His actions shake up the whole Palazzini family when Nicky breaks off his engagement and moves out of the house.
The book is full of distinct and interesting characters. With such a large cast it could have been hard to keep the characters separate, but the author did a very good job of writing each one as a individual with their own backstory, personality traits, and motivations. There are no "generic sisters-in-law" here.
Hortense is the African-American dispatcher and telegraph operator at the cab company. She's no nonsense and proudly self-educated. Her husband doesn't appreciate her and demeans her. She forges a friendship with a housebound Italian widow over a weekend who shares part of her way of making marinara sauce. This leads to a business opportunity for Hortense because she's savvy enough to see how a simple sauce fits into the need for convenience for the modern house wife. Adding this character gives an outsider's view of the Italian families and neighborhood of Philadelphia.
This is a long book that doesn't have one distinct through story. It is a book that you just need to settle into and let it take you along for the ride instead of trying to imagine where the journey is going to take you.
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This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story