Date/Time
Sunday 08/11/2019
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location
Museo Italo Americano
Categories
Author and Museo member Natalie Galli will present her book telling the true story of 18 year old Franca Viola who made history in 1966 by refusing to go along with a centuries=old forcible marriage custom in Sicily. Having been kidnapped and raped, she defied the expectation that she would marry the rapist to “restore her broken honor”. This resulted in a social uproar throughout the island and beyond.
The riveting events after Franca pressed charges with the police form the core of this gripping memoir. Viola was subjected to public taunting whenever she appeared on the streets of her town; Mafia-orchestrated bullying threatened her entire family. Galli traced the dramatic tale to its conclusion, in spite of initial warnings from her own relatives not to break the Sicilian code of silence.
In Natalie Galli’s The Girl Who Said No, Viola’s remarkable story unfolds when the author arrives in Palermo to search for this brave heroine, with little more than the memory of a tiny article she had spotted two decades prior. Galli wanted to know: whatever had become of this courageous girl who had overturned an ancient, entrenched tradition.
Throughout the story, Ms. Galli shares her own poignant and hilarious observations about a vibrant culture steeped in contradictions and paradoxes.
Sunday, August 11, 2019 | 4:30pm
Free admission
RSVP early as space is limited (below or by calling (415) 673-2200)
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.
