Becoming Mariella

Becoming Mariella is author Janet Constantino’s debut novel. Constantino, half Sicilian herself, brings us Sicily in full sensory detail, and a protagonist to root for—Mariella, twenty-two and engaged to handsome Matteo. Both families assume this marriage is a fait accompli. But there’s a problem: Mariella isn’t ready to assume the expected roles of wife, cook, and mother. She may not know exactly what she wants, yet she isn’t ready to stop learning, exploring, growing, discovering. She understands what no one but her beloved grandmother, her Nonna, can fathom—“becoming” is a work in progress and a journey she must undertake on her own.

Defying parents and the dictates of Italian culture and tradition she breaks off the engagement. With money saved from her job at a travel agency and the secret financial and emotional support of her Nonna, Mariella tiptoes from her childhood home and flies to San Francisco to begin her journey of self-discovery and realization.

Mariella may have understood that her decision to leave her fiancé and all she’s ever known behind was vital to her spirit, but it was by no means an easy choice. She loves Matteo. And though he doesn’t understand her motivations, he is not portrayed as an over-bearing or controlling young man. Their love scenes demonstrate a refreshing comfort with her own sexuality (which, of course, must remain hidden from her family) and an ability to separate feelings of desire from what, ultimately, she wants for herself. She is not one to follow the easy, charted path into her own future, no matter how painful it may be in the short term.

“So handsome her Matteo, though not in a traditional way: his lean, intense face too poetic for that. Eyes so dark they were nearly black. She felt a throb of desire, felt the wetness between her legs, remembering their lovemaking in his apartment bed. Only yesterday.”

In advance of her arrival in San Francisco, she’s secured a place to live via the internet, but when she arrives at the apartment, a rude discovery awaits. Leslie, with whom she’s been corresponding, isn’t a woman, as she’d presumed, but a man; though to her relief, also gay. “But is nothing wrong with gay!” said Mariella. “In fact if you tell me you are gay, no problem. Is better than being just a man.”

The story is engaging, picking up pace with Mariella’s arrival in the United States. The author is particularly deft with details of scene and setting and the emotional and psychological complexities of her characters. Her mother is depicted as a harsh and judgmental woman, a woman who coddles and favors her son while belittling and haranguing her daughter; yet we also sense the fear, insecurity, and sense of inferiority that likely compel her hurtful behavior. Slices of family backstory are laced into the narrative throughout—past incidents, losses, mistakes, and traumas that broaden our understanding of the characters and why they might behave as they do. The complexities and challenges of marriage are also evident in her parents’ and other unions.

Once settled in San Francisco, Mariella finds work in a fine Italian restaurant, Basilico, and in time becomes the owner’s lover. A widower, he’s old enough to be her father. It’s complicated. True to her character, Mariella doesn’t allow the relationship to pull her too far into his orbit and off track. 

Whether it’s plates of food served at Basilico, casual meals with Leslie and their friends, or back in Sicily, tantalizing descriptions of food and meals savored abound—meals that often lead to sex, from one sensorial palette to another. When Leslie is recovering from a heartache, Mariella serves him platters of food as medicine. “. . . pasta with all manner of sauces: amatriciana, pesto, aglio et olio, with a generous grating of parmigiana. And of course her favorite, pasta alla norma.”

Becoming Mariella is an enjoyable, engaging read, with a colorful spectrum of engaging, complex characters and the vivid backdrops of Sicily and San Francisco. Many will find Mariella’s journey, and the myriad internal and external challenges she faces head on, highly relatable.