The Sicilian Inheritance
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4.1 • 15 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Don’t miss this transporting novel full of family secrets, a disputed inheritance, and a century-old unsolved mystery …
‘I can’t stop thinking about this powerful book! Jo Piazza’s stunning dual-timeline novel explores womanhood, sacrifice, and the untold stories of our ancestors so beautifully … An absolute can’t miss’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Such a great book and well written. I could picture in my head the landscape, almost taste the food and the suspense was perfect to keep the pages turning’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This book captivated me from beginning to end! Lots of unexpected twists, interesting historical information, beautiful food and sparkling scenery. Perfect summer (or anytime) read!’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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A century-old unsolved murder
A disputed inheritance
A family secret that some will kill to protect …
When Sara Marsala’s beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away, she leaves Sara a valuable piece of land in Sicily, but there’s a catch: the locals refuse to acknowledge the rightful owner of the deed, and if Sara wants the land she must first uncover the truth about what happened to her great-grandmother, Serafina Marsala. Because Rosie didn’t think Serafina died of illness as family lore states … Rosie believed Serafina was murdered, and she wants Sara to prove it.
Sara’s investigations take her up and down the picturesque Italian countryside and, along the way, she learns more about Serafina, a headstrong young woman thrust into motherhood in her teens, who fought for a better life for all the woman of her small village. Yet a woman who challenges the status quo is never safe, and as Sara discovers more about Serafina, she comes up against the same menacing forces that took down her great-great grandmother.
And now they want to destroy Sara too.
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Praise for The Sicilian Inheritance:
‘Equal parts rich historical fiction, gripping murder mystery, and a moving exploration of identity, grief, and the long shadow of the past’ Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here
‘A gritty and whip-smart read. Strong friendships, powerful women, mighty lives. I utterly devoured it, was swept to Sicily, loved the denouement’ Amanda Geard, author of The Midnight House
‘As much a feminist adventure as a redemptive family mystery … I was gripped and entertained from start to finish’ Ashley Audrain, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Push
‘Strong women, rich history and page-turning suspense make for a rich and satisfying read’ Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author
About the author
Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. Her work has been published in ten languages and twelve countries, and many of her books are currently in development for film and television. Jo's podcasts have garnered more than twenty-five million downloads and regularly top podcast charts, and her work has appeared in Marie Claire, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, New York magazine, Glamour, Elle, Time, the Daily Beast, and Slate. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and three feral children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.