Christopher Castellani reads from his novel The Saint of Lost Things

In his new novel, The Saint of Lost Things (Algonquin Books, 2005), Christopher Castellani explores the ties that bind in an Italian neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware, circa 1953. Maddalena Grasso has lost her country, her family, and the man she loved by immigrating to America. Her mercurial husband Antonio has lost his opportunity to realize the American Dream. Their friend Guilio Fabbri, a shy accordion player, has lost his beloved parents. In the shadow of St. Anthony’s Church, named for the patron saint of lost things, the prayers of these troubled but determined people are heard, and fate and circumstances conspire to answer them in unforeseeable ways.