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Table of Contents
About The Book
It’s unprecedented, even in the twenty-first century, for a young Sicilian woman to defy the centuries-old mandate, “Family is everything!”—but twenty-two-year-old Mariella Russo is desperate to escape Sicily. She’s being relentlessly coerced into an engagement with her wealthy college sweetheart—a young man from a prominent, powerful family—by her envious and erratic mother, who hopes the match will increase her own ignominious social status. Suddenly, Mariella’s lifelong home has become a claustrophobic island. In a bid for independence and an attempt to escape entrapment, she flees to San Francisco.
But Mariella’s bête noire—entrapment—follows her to San Francisco, where everyone wants more from her than she wants to give. Her American roommate, Leslie, turns out to be a gay man rather than the woman she imagined; her employer/lover is pressuring her to live with him; and her neurotic mother is haunting her, wreaking havoc and embarrassment. An urgent return trip to Sicily puts Mariella to the ultimate challenge: will she submit to tradition, or choose a life she wants for herself?
Product Details
- Publisher: She Writes Press (February 4, 2025)
- Length: 256 pages
- ISBN13: 9781647427696
Raves and Reviews
“Readers will easily relate to this enjoyable and honest depiction of the conflicting desires and expectations faced by many people in their 20s.” —Kirkus Reviews
“. . . Constantino's prose effectively carries the story . . .” —BookLife Prize
“Janet Constantino creates a host of unforgettable—and delightfully unpredictable—characters in this wise and lively novel full of romance, passion, true friendship, and deliciously detailed descriptions of authentic Italian cooking.” —Mary Helen Stefaniak, author of The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia
“Janet Constantino has created a character of wonderful complexity.” —David Chandler, stage, screen, and voice actor
“Becoming Mariella speaks to any woman or man who has ever wanted more of a future than what was already laid out for them.” —Morgan Ray, author of Sticks and Stones and Unsolicited Greetings
“You’ll end up considering them your friends and want to invite most of them over for dinner.” —Susan Salenger, author of Sidelined
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Becoming Mariella eBook 9781647427696