Title: The Tale of Lucia Grandi, The Early Years
Author: Susan Speranza
ISBN: 978-0944657010
Publisher: Brook House Press (October 20, 2012)
Format/Length: 1136 KB (428 pages)
From the Publisher:
When an old woman is asked to recount the story of her life, she tells an intense and poignant tale about growing up in and surviving a warring suburban family during the 1950s and 60s.
Written as a memoir, each chapter describes a particular incident in Lucia’s life which shows the constant struggle between her parents and the perverse effect it has on her and the family. From her complicated and unwanted birth, to her witnessing a suicide at age 3, to her stint as a runaway at age 14, the story progresses to the final crisis where as a young woman, she is turned out of her house and banished from her family forever.
Told in breathtakingly beautiful prose, this is a powerful and timeless story of a dying woman’s courageous attempt to come to terms with her past and the troubled family that dominated it.
About the Author:
I was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island where I had an interesting and creative childhood. Once in college, I studied Psychology and Philosophy, but since “thinking” didn’t translate into earning money or job security, I worked at a variety of different and unrelated jobs both in New York City and on Long Island.
In order to keep me sane through all the craziness of life, I spent my spare time writing. Anything and everything. The culmination of this was a fantasy – The City of Light – which has recently been reissued as an ebook.
I took up the hobby of dog showing and breeding and produced many Pekingese Champions. You can see them over at our Castlerigg Pekingese website.
Somewhere in the middle of my life so far, after a great personal upheaval, I went back to school, became a High School Librarian. I managed to fulfill my childhood dream of living in the country when I finally escaped suburbia and moved to Vermont where I now happily live with my beautiful Pekes.
But I’ve never stopped writing.
My biography (as with my life, I hope) is to be continued…
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Guest Review
THE TALE OF LUCIA GRANDI is the sort of book that haunts the reader for days. Lucia’s childhood tales, told with both matter-of-fact sadness and humor, are not always for the faint of heart. But the description, the integrity of the characters and intriguing plot make for a gripping epic that is worth a few tears.
Told in a memoir style, this book follows Lucia during her earliest days. Her family is extremely dysfunctional, and it is clear that this is a generational issue, with Lucia the unhappy beneficiary.
There are saving graces to the sadness: the flashes of humor, the sympathetic characters and the unapologetic story spinning all work together to create a well-balanced book.
I was so drawn into Lucia’s world that I thought about her and her family for a long time after reading the book, which is, after all, about the highest praise a reader can give.
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About Diane
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my book! If you haven’t done so already, I’d really appreciate it if you could post your review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thanks again for such a nice review!