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One of the NY Post's Best Beach Reads, an US Weekly pick for "mystery novels to read on the beach”, a Woman's World "captivating beach read you won't be able to put down this summer" ("a riveting saga"), an Eater food-filled beach read for your summer vacation ("an appealing mix of romantic escapism, whodunit intrigue, and feminist introspection.")
From bestselling author and award-winning journalist Jo Piazza, comes "A Journey to the Boot of Italy, With Murder, Romance and Ricotta” (The New York Times) about a disputed inheritance and a family secret that some will kill to protect . . .
Sara Marsala barely knows who she is anymore after the failure of her business and marriage. On top of that, her beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away, leaving Sara bereft with grief. But Aunt Rosie’s death also opens an escape from her life and a window into the past by way of a plane ticket to Sicily, a deed to a possibly valuable plot of land, and a bombshell family secret. Rosie believes Sara’s great-grandmother Serafina, the family matriarch who was left behind while her husband worked in America, didn’t die of illness as family lore has it . . . she was murdered.
Thus begins a twist-filled adventure that takes Sara all over the picturesque Italian countryside as she races to solve a mystery and learn the story of Serafina—a feisty and headstrong young woman in the early 1900s thrust into motherhood in her teens, who fought for a better life not just for herself but for all the women of her small village. Unsurprisingly the more she challenges the status quo, the more she finds herself in danger.
As Sara discovers more about Serafina, she also realizes she is coming head-to-head with the same menacing forces that took down her great-grandmother. At once an immersive multigenerational mystery and an ode to the undaunted heroism of everyday women, The Sicilian Inheritance is an atmospheric, page-turning delight.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 2, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593827475
- File size: 342453 KB
- Duration: 11:53:26
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 12, 2024
Piazza (Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win) delivers an entertaining and suspenseful novel of an Italian American woman’s dangerous attempt to reconcile her family history in Sicily. Sara Marsala, a 30-something Philadelphia chef, travels to the Sicilian village of Caltabellessa to fulfill the final wishes of her great-aunt Rosie, who requested in a letter to Sara that her ashes be spread there. Aunt Rosie’s letter also tasks Sara with claiming a piece of land deeded more than 100 years earlier to Rosie’s mother, Serafina Forte, and finding out why Serafina never joined Rosie in the U.S. around that same time. Sara has her own troubles back in Philly: a failed restaurant, a failed marriage, and the loss of custody of her four-year-old daughter. These problems pale in comparison, however, to what awaits her in Sicily. First her passport is stolen, then she’s kidnapped and threatened by local thugs, incidents she suspects are related to her attempted land claim, and which prompt her to go undercover as a tourist. Piazza alternates Sara’s story with Serafina’s and mirrors the two thematically, offering bracing depictions of an oppressive patriarchy in early 20th-century Sicily and its legacy in the present. This paean to furbezza, the “devious intelligence” of women, succeeds on all counts. Agent: Byrd Leavell and Pilar Queen, UTA. -
May 31, 2024
When Sara Marsala's beloved Aunt Rosie dies, Sara agrees to fulfill her aunt's request to scatter her ashes in their family's Sicilian village. However, once she arrives on the island, Sara finds there is more to Rosie's last wish--to discover what happened to her mother, Serafina, and determine if a mysterious deed to several acres of land is real. Piazza's (Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win) latest is told in alternating chapters, describing Sara in the present as she explores the island and pokes her nose where it might not belong, and Serafina in the past as she works to build a life in the village. As she follows these two women, each caged by the expectations of society, Piazza deftly interweaves the everyday struggles of wives raising their children, keeping the village running, and trying to find happiness in a society that expects much while appreciating little. Narrators Rachel F. Hirsch and Carlotta Brentan convey Serafina's and Sara's emotional depths as they face challenges and reflect on the meaning of family and independence. Together, the narrators give each character a unique voice while maintaining consistent, natural-sounding Italian accents. VERDICT A riveting, powerfully narrated story for fans of historical fiction and mystery.--Zoey Colglazier
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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