How Sophia Loren went from extreme poverty to screen goddess

AN 80 year old from Naples has delved into an old box of sentimental ephemera and turned it into a book. 

Sophia Loren, one of the screen goddesses of the last century, has just published Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, which, through letters, photos and recollections, details her trajectory from an impoverished Italian childhood to her life as an Italian grandmother via global stardom as a movie icon.

Although Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow is not by any means a great work of literature and is perhaps best read by serious fans only, this does not discount from Loren’s astonishing journey from a childhood of hunger and poverty to worldwide fame and success. What makes her story so interesting is her background, attitude, and resilience – she presents as resoundingly down to earth, with Madonna-levels of determination.