A bench on which to rest

the long version

"A Bench on Which to Rest is the story of Climene, an Italian emigrant, who makes a new life near Montreal in the 1930s and finally returns home to the Apennine hills of Italy to make peace with herself at the end of her life."--BOOK JACKET. "Climene is twenty-eight years old when the Abyssinian War is threatening to take away the young men of her poor village. At the same time, her childhood friend, Adelmo Toschi, has just returned to Italy from Canada to take a wife. They fall in love. In following her fiance to the new world, as throughout her life, Climene must cope with heart-wrenching losses and hardships. Triumphantly, she prospers, raises a family, and finds worldly success."--BOOK JACKET. "But...underneath the surface is a proud woman's deeply held secret, the yearning for true love, and the powerful pull of her ancestral village. Climene's return to Italy in the twilight of her life at last brings her serenity."--BOOK JACKET.