Marianne Perry at The Grand Hotel San Michele in Cetraro, Calabria. A fictional San Michele serves as the primary setting for her novel, The Inheritance. Photograph taken May 2013 on author’s second research trip to southern Italy.
Discovering family stories has fuelled Marianne Perry’s longstanding interest in genealogical research. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Calabria, southern Italy in the early 1900’s, travelled across the Atlantic Ocean by steamship, landed at Ellis Island, New York and eventually settled in Sault Ste. Marie where they met and married. Her late father, Arnold Joseph Perri, was one of their nine children.
Marianne’s novel, The Inheritance, emerged after years of studying family history. A blend of fact and fiction, it tells the story of an atypical woman rejecting social norms, a priest seeking redemption and a family disintegrating from conflicting loyalties in 1900 Calabria.
The local author has a diverse background in education and communications. A former English and Dramatic Arts teacher in Toronto, she was the Founding Director of Student Services at Algoma University College. In 1997-1998, she served as Project Director for Sault Ste. Marie Naturally Gifted; the city’s official HomeComing publication. Marianne was also a past member of the Board of Trustees, National Arts Centre Corporation.
The Sault Ste. Marie Public Library will host the official launch of The Inheritance on Tuesday, October 22nd from 6:00PM to 7:30PM. As part of the evening’s activities, Marianne will lead a workshop entitled “Discovering Your Family Stories With Genealogical Research.” The workshop is open to the public and will be held at The Essar Community Room in the Korah Branch Library, West End Community Center, 556 Goulais Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
