By EMMA BARTLETT

Bernadette Conte’s third book was supposed to be a family cookbook. However, as she put pen to paper, family history and stories kept popping up, causing her to set it aside and write a family history book. Conte, whose inspiration for the piece comes from her mother, will speak about her book “Under the Pear Tree” at the Italian American Historical Society’s honoring mothers event on May 15.

“My mother was a storyteller,” said Conte, whose story is a moving account of the trials, traumas and emotional life surrounding the immigrant experience at the turn of the 19th century.

Growing up, Conte explained that on Sunday afternoons – after guests stopped by for dinner at her family’s home in Knightsville – Conte and her two sisters would lie on the bed and listen to their mom tell stories about her grandparents and growing up in Itri, Italy.

Conte said her mother, Gaetanina, was born blind. Gaetanina was born in the states in 1908 and lost her mother two-and-a-half years old. This left her father to raise six children. For an unknown reason, Gaetanina’s father changed her name to Caterina in 1928.

Conte said Caterina’s father spoke with his parents in Itri, Italy, who suggested he take Caterina to a hospital in Naples, to see if they could restore her eyesight. After three days of intensive testing in Naples, doctors said there was nothing that could be done. Caterina’s grandparents suggested traveling back to Itri where they knew a woman in town who had a natural gift for healing eyes. The woman agreed to help and treated Caterina by putting a poultice of beaten egg whites and sea herbs on her eyes and having her wear a blindfold.

“The entire town was involved because this woman, Annamaria Soprano, needed many, many eggs every day and so the town would come and bring her eggs so my mother could be treated,” said Conte. “They took the blindfold off in the middle of Itri Square and my mother was able to see for the very first time.”

After Caterina’s sight was cured, her father connected with an old friend and remarried. He left Caterina in Italy with her grandparents and went back to America with his new wife.

Conte was always intrigued by her mother’s stories.

“I would just scribble notes and keep these little pieces of paper, never thinking that I would use them,” Conte said.

She said her mom always said “scrivi e ridorda,” meaning write and remember.

Later in life, Conte had the opportunity to visit Italy. Her mother was so excited and gave her the names and addresses of Itrani relatives to visit while she was there.

“Wherever I went and mentioned her name, doors would just open for me,” Conte said.

It was through this trip that Conte learned that her mom had a difficult time with her aunt (father’s sister) who accused Caterina of stealing the grandmother’s inheritance after she passed away. Caterina’s aunt brought her and two of her uncles to court and the aunt had false witnesses testify against them. Caterina was accused of using the fictitious name. After a year of hearings,  Caterina and her two uncles were exonerated because they were well-known and had high positions in Itri.

Since Caterina no longer had her grandparents around, Conte said she longed to know her father, brothers and sisters and moved to Knightsville with her husband after they married in 1929.

The title of Conte’s book comes from her childhood. Growing up, Conte’s grandparents owned three houses that were set up for tenants. When family members came from Italy, they would move into the housing. Conte said her family was very close with the other tenants – many of whom were relatives and others who were not. Since there was just a driveway to the garage and concrete areas for where the cars parked, everyone congregated under the pear tree.

Women would sit under the pear tree and talk about their problems and Conte’s father would bring out his mandolin or guitar and play while the neighbors came by for singalongs. Conte said in the winter months, the family would push their kitchen table aside, set up chairs and invite neighbors in for singalongs and food.

Conte said she is honored that the Italian American Historical Society asked her to speak about her mother at their event.

“She was a woman that had so much love for everybody,” Conte said.

Conte explained that her mother visited Itri and came back with only the clothes on her back. Conte bought her outfits before she left for the trip and she gave them all away.

For the book, Conte had one of her friends in Rome a lot of material used in “Under the Pear Tree” translated from Italian to English; this included documents from the court case. Conte also spent time calling different relatives to get photos for the book.

Growing up, Conte attended Knightsville School, Hugh B. Bain Middle School and Cranston High. She was a hairdresser, owned two salons and went on to help her son start his restaurant – working there until she retired.

She is also the author of the historical documentary book, “Eviva Maria, Madonna della Civita.”  Her latest memoir, “Trauma at the Border”, is a true, inspiring story of her efforts to find alternative cancer treatments for her dying husband in Tijuana, Mexico.  The book not only details the search and determination to find answers to incorporate both conventional and alternative cancer treatments, but also tells an unimaginable story of corruption, drug trafficking, strength and ultimately peace. 

To hear Conte talk about “Under the Pear Tree,” visit the Italian American Historical Society’s honoring mother’s event on May 15 at the Santa Maria di Prata in Cranston. The event starts at 11 a.m. The book is 246 pages long and can be purchased by emailing Conte at contessabc@verizon.net.