Davide A. Cottone

Canecutter Davide A. Cottone

A young Sicilian refuses to bow to the dictator Mussolini in the streets of Agira and is threatened with retribution by his Fascist thugs, the Black Shirts. He hides in the mountains near his home town and arranges for a passport to Australia in 1924. Twelve years later, when he returns to Sicily to visit his family, he discovers Mussolini's dictatorial regime is not only entrenched but also unforgiving. He could have had another life, instead he chose one of freedom as a canecutter in the fields of Far North Queensland. This story is based on his life as a child and a fugitive in Sicily, as a canecutter, a farmer with a young family in a foreign land and as a classified enemy alien. His stoic belief in the innate goodness of his fellow human beings and his faith in God are put to the test time and time again in his valiant struggle against adversity and the harsh contrasts of Australian life.