Legacy of Silence: From Sicily’s Shadows to an American Life Silence shapes families. This book breaks it. At the turn of the 20th century, Sicily was a land scarred by violence, vendettas, and poverty. In 1900, an infant named Tessie Rossi was orphaned in the hills outside Palermo and carried across the ocean under a new identity—Tessie Palumbo. Her rebirth erased a dangerous past but left her bound to silence, a silence that would echo for generations. By her side was Angelo Palumbo , the boy who would come of age in Cold Spring, New York. Angelo’s story became the family’s anchor—surviving the Great Depression, finding steady work in New York City’s railways, and carving a path of resilience that bridged the Old World and the new. From Tessie’s unspoken past to Angelo’s steadfast determination, and through the battles of their children—especially Angela Joan , who struggled to break cycles of hardship and abuse— Legacy of Silence uncovers how history, silence, and survival shaped three generations of one immigrant family. This is not just one family’s story. It is the story of countless others who crossed oceans carrying secrets, reinventing themselves while leaving behind truths too painful to tell. Heartfelt and unflinching, Legacy of Silence is both a family memoir and a universal tale of survival, resilience, and the courage to finally give voice to what was once left in shadow. It weaves the author’s own journey—growing up in Connecticut in the 1960s—into the larger tapestry of history, showing how even the deepest silences can be broken.