1. Act 1, Scenes 14-17
Scenes 14–17
(Pages 77–92) In church and in Pedreschi’s shop. Scotland
Develops action and storyline
• Massimo’s story of his arrest.
• A leap forward in time.
• Franco is dead.
• Bridget tells Rosinella about Franco’s letter to her – ‘to be posted in the event of his death’.
Develops characters and relationships
• Massimo reveals his feelings about his father.
• Hughie and Lucia become ‘blood brothers’.
• Rosinella cannot warm to Bridget even in their shared grief at Franco’s death.
• She tells Lucia the story of her elopement.
LI: To understand how the themes and characters of the novel develop in this scene
SC: Can find evidence of the development of characters and themes
Can comment appropriately on the evidence found

2. Develops themes and issues
• Racial prejudice.
– Rosinella cannot accept that Franco has written to Bridget because he loves her.
'I wonder why he sent it to you?[…]It must be because he knows I cannie read.' (1,16)
• Sense of family.
Massimo has a strong relationship with his father.
Repetition of ‘ma faither' (1,14)
– Franco’s letter reveals the depth of his feelings for his family.
'Tell them they were in my thoughts up till the last.'(1,16)

3. • Work ethic
-Despite the fact they have both been taken from their families and homes both Massimo and Daddy Pedreschi are worried for their businesses.
'So I tried to keep thinking about my shop. How was I going to fix it up again, back the way it was.'
'You know the first thing he says to me? 'Who's minding the bloody shop?''(1,14)