*Editorial Book Review*
BEYOND THE COPPER HORIZON
by Bob Zanotti
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing LLC
Print Length: 472 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
There are some novels that tell the story of a particular moment in history, and then there are those that take a character by the hand and follow them through the changing world around them. Sweeping across decades and continents, this is an ambitious and deeply moving story of one ordinary man whose hopes for a quiet life are repeatedly challenged by forces far beyond his control.
When Domenico Zanotto is first introduced, he is far from the vineyards of his home in Cuceglio. Conscripted into the Royal Sardinian Army, he finds himself caught up in the First Italian War of Independence and the brutal fighting surrounding the Battle of Novara. Domenico is no natural soldier. He does what is required of him, and when courage is demanded, he somehow finds it, but his thoughts continually return to home, to the land his family has worked for generations, and to the future he hopes is waiting for him there.
War has changed Domenico in ways he could never have anticipated, and returning to Cuceglio cannot simply turn him back into the young man who left it. I thought Domenico was a wonderfully realised protagonist. Bob Zanotti does not romanticise his experiences as a soldier or suggest that surviving the battlefield means leaving it behind. Domenico returns carrying memories he cannot easily share with those around him, and the life he spent years dreaming about is no longer quite the same as the one he left behind.
The depiction of Domenico’s struggle with what we would now recognise as the psychological consequences of war is particularly compelling. There is fear, anger and guilt, but there is also enormous sensitivity in the way this part of his character is explored. His recovery is not presented as something that happens overnight, nor do the terrible things he has witnessed simply disappear from his thoughts. Instead, Domenico gradually learns how to live with his memories. His faith is tested, his understanding of himself changes, and he slowly begins to realise that what happened during the war does not have to dictate the rest of his life.
The rural world of nineteenth-century Piemonte is beautifully brought to life. The vineyards, harvests, village celebrations, church services and family gatherings create a wonderful sense of place, but there is real hardship beneath the beauty. The Zanottos have worked the same land for generations without ever owning it, and the struggle of small farmers against poverty and powerful landowners becomes increasingly important as the novel progresses. Italy may be moving towards unification, but for a family such as Domenico’s, political change does not necessarily make everyday life any easier. There are still bills to pay, crops to harvest and mouths to feed.
Catterina quickly became one of my favourite characters. She is warm, practical, determined and remarkably resilient, and she is every bit Domenico’s equal. Where he has a tendency to retreat into himself, Catterina reaches out to others, and where he worries about what might happen, she concentrates on whatever needs doing. Their marriage is not portrayed as effortlessly perfect, which made me appreciate it all the more. They disagree and make mistakes, and life places them under tremendous pressure at times, but the love between them is never in doubt. I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop as the years passed.
As Domenico’s family grows, providing for them becomes increasingly difficult, and the possibility of America gradually begins to enter their lives. Letters arrive from those who have already left, carrying stories of jobs, higher wages and opportunities that simply do not exist at home. At first America is somewhere other people go, but as circumstances become harder, Domenico is forced to consider choices that he would once have thought unimaginable.
I found the American part of Domenico’s story particularly fascinating. The copper country of Michigan could hardly be more different from the vineyards of Cuceglio, and Zanotti does a wonderful job of showing both the opportunities and the difficulties facing immigrant families. The mines are dark, noisy and dangerous, the winters are bitterly cold, and prejudice towards immigrant workers is never far away. However, there is kindness as well. Italians, Finns and other immigrant communities work alongside one another, friendships develop in the most unlikely places, and people repeatedly come together when someone needs help. That sense of community gives some much-needed warmth to what can otherwise be a very harsh existence.
One aspect of the novel that I particularly enjoyed was the changing idea of home. Cuceglio is part of Domenico in a way that is difficult for him to explain, but his children do not necessarily see the world as he does. A place that one generation thinks of as temporary can become home to the next, particularly when children grow up there, make friends and begin imagining futures of their own. As the family becomes divided between Italy and America, Domenico has to accept that loving his children does not mean choosing their futures for them. I thought this was beautifully portrayed.
The use of copper throughout the novel is also very clever. The copper-coloured Erbaluce grapes connect Domenico to the vineyards and the life he has always known, while copper takes on an entirely different meaning once America becomes part of his story. The image appears at significant moments without being overused, and I loved the way its meaning develops along with Domenico. When the title, “Beyond the Copper Horizon,” finally comes into its own, it feels entirely fitting for the journey the reader has taken with him.
There is a tremendous amount of history contained within these pages. Zanotti takes his readers through military life, Italian unification, viticulture, agricultural poverty, emigration, copper mining and the growing labour movement. There are occasions when there is quite a lot of historical information to take in, but it is clear that an enormous amount of research has gone into creating Domenico’s world. I particularly enjoyed seeing major historical changes from the point of view of people simply trying to make a living and provide for their families. Decisions made by governments and powerful men may seem distant, but their consequences are anything but distant for people such as the Zanottos.
This is not always an easy novel emotionally. There are some desperately sad moments, and the family faces more than its fair share of hardship. What I liked, however, was that the story never became solely about those losses. Domenico has to keep getting up and carrying on, even when life seems determined to knock him back down again. The meaning of courage changes for him as he grows older. The courage he needed as a young soldier is very different from the courage required of him as a husband and father, particularly when he has to accept that there are some things he simply cannot change.
By the end of the novel, I felt as though I had known Domenico for a very long time. He never thinks of himself as anyone particularly remarkable; he simply wants to work, care for his family and live a peaceful life. Yet he experiences an extraordinary amount of change during his lifetime and somehow remains recognisably Domenico throughout it all. I cared about what happened to him, I cared about Catterina and their children, and I was genuinely sorry when I reached the final pages and had to leave them behind.
“Beyond the Copper Horizon” is a beautifully researched and deeply moving family saga about love, courage, faith, migration and the meaning of home. Zanotti has created characters who feel very real, and through Domenico’s long and eventful life he brings a fascinating period of history vividly to life. This was an absorbing read from beginning to end, and one that I know I will be thinking about for quite some time.
Bob Zanotti
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