Hello Listers: I too have purchased this book based on the great reviews on this list. I am up to page 129 of 188, not to shabby for a non reading engineer, and I will agree that it is a well done unusual book, an easy read, and a pleasant read. I bought the book because my mothers maiden name was LEWIS. Her grandfather Manuel, my G Grandfather Lewis, also came from FLORES, AZORES as did the author! The earliest record I have found for my Manuel is as a member of the crew on the Whaling ship "Ocmulgee" docked at Edgardtown Harbor on Martha's Vineyard Island off the Massachusetts coast in the 1860 census. Starving for information on the Lewis line, and particularly on the Island Of Flores Azores and the reviews indicate that the book is an autobiographical novel, I was sort of hoping, and expecting mention of family members such as names, ages, locations etc, of siblings, aunts/uncles nieces/nephews grand parents etc that came and went around family gatherings etc., would be noted in the book. Unfortunately, so far, I have not found that is the case. It goes into detail of a boys dreams, hopes, fears, joys, sorrows, anticipations, etc, school, teachers, church, the color of the sea, or trees, the moon , the sun etc. but not about family or relatives. He mentions his mother and father often , punishments, encouragements, and difference in approach between his mother and dad etc. but so far genealogical type of data of names, relationships, dates or locations are not featured. . Again, it is a well done unusual book, an easy read, and a pleasant read. It does what the reviewers have said it does. It provides documentation and the development of the society at the time as seen through the eyes of a frank and honest person who lived it and has shared it. But it would be misleading to hope or anticipate a trove of genealogical information. Ralph
________________________________ From: Steve Wright <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 1:44 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Home Is An Island I am also reading this book and thoroughly enjoying. Yes, it does help in understanding why my grandparents left the Azores and came to America. My grandparents left Teceira and never returned. I highly recommend. Thank you for your other book recommendation. I wish I had spoken with my grandparents more about how, why. It is amazing to me how they left family and came to America not knowing anyone or the language. What brave people they were. Thanks for sharing. Colleen Wright Researchng Silva, Goncalves from Teceriia and Pico and Rosa, Cunha from Graciosa On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 5:26 AM, John Raposo <[email protected]> wrote: Earlier this week I started reading "Home is an Island" by Alfred Lewis (Tagus Press at UMass Dartmouth: 2012) which was published last month. Alfred was born in Flores (1902) and became prominant in California where he died in 1977. The book is an atobiographical novel and it is an absolute must read especially for 3rd and 4th generation Azorean Americans who are trying to understand why people in a tiny island would leave everything and everybody they ever knew and loved and sail off on whaling ships for the great and vast unknown, possibly never to return. Some did return many years later, loaded with treasure, becoming celebrities in their village; others returned quietly with empty pockets, pitied by someand ridiculed by others. Some died at sea, some just disappeared; others just never saw the familes left back on the island again. Their great grandchildren in America are trying to discover who "Frank Marshall" of the Wester Islands was before he became "assimilated and acculturated" into the melting pot and married their great-grandmother Mamie Murphy in California. > >Lewis's novel is lyrical and has a beautiful poetry like feeling about it. > >Another great read, along the same lines is "Dark Stones" by Dias de Melo >(from Pico) published by Gavea Brown:1988-- >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >[email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when >they arrive. >For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail >(vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right >that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
