Letters from the Olive Tree is a literary historical fiction short story set in the early twentieth century. Giovanni Olivi, the second son of a proud but impoverished Tuscan farming family, is bound by tradition and cut off from inheritance. He leaves behind the only life he's known and the woman he loves, Ersilia Innocenti, in search of opportunity in America, promising to make a life abroad and one day send for her.
What follows is a transatlantic journey of grueling labor, crushing poverty, and bitter desolation for Giovanni, testing the couple's steadfast love. Told through vivid prose and the letters they exchange, Giovanni's story unfolds in sweat, sorrow, and relentless hope as he faces the ultimate test of his promise to Ersilia beneath the olive tree.
Letters from the Olive Tree is a lyrical, emotionally resonant story about what it means to belong, in place and person. It is a timeless meditation on land, love, and the courage to keep building when everything seems lost.
