Coffee Killed My Mother

Anna Lee is an anxious 17-year-old whose life is stuck, largely because of her strained relationship with her mother Jacqueline, a quirky recovering alcoholic who is now addicted to coffee. The two take off on a trip to explore independent coffee shops along the east coast, but Jacqueline’s real agenda is an opportunity to reveal a series of disturbing family secrets to Anna Lee--a twin that died in utero, a fatal drunk driving accident, an abusive parent, and her mother's betrayal of a woman Anna Lee holds dear.

Coffee Killed my Mother is a wonderfully written tale about a mother-daughter journey. The mother is delightfully eccentric while the teenage daughter is the practical part of the duo. As for the title, all is revealed at the end. Stramella's novel shows an admirable level of professionalism with its characters and settings, and promises great things for the first-time author. - Nancy Stancill, Author, Saving Texas and Winning Texas