Set in the
lush hills of the French Ardennes and the scorched mountains of Southern Italy,
Beautiful Secret is a tale of family secrets, forbidden love, and unexpected
blessings.
Maria’s story unfolds in 1940’s
Italy, where family ties and tradition are of utmost importance. When Maria is
seduced by her cousin's fiancé, she becomes pregnant, and the scandal destroys
her family. Whisked away from her poor rural village of Tronca to a severe
Catholic convent several mountain towns away, she gives birth to a son. Maria
is under tremendous pressure to give her baby up for adoption. Against the
odds, she manages to keep her child and then must find a way to get him back to
the home and family that is his birth right.
Years later, after being forced
to marry and emigrate to America, Maria is at the end of her life. As she lies
on her deathbed in a Pittsburgh hospital, Maria shares her story with her
beloved granddaughter, Tatiana.
Awash in her own marital troubles,
Tatiana agrees to Maria’s dying wish – to travel to Europe and retrieve a package from an aunt she’s never
met. When Tate journeys to the land of her ancestors, she fully expects
to meet her long lost family and to lay eyes on the places that cultivated a
spirit like her Nana Maria’s. What she doesn’t anticipate is falling into a
forbidden love affair with a sexy French man who happens to be her distant
cousin by marriage. Throughout her journey, Tate not only discovers a shocking
secret that Nana Maria waited a lifetime to disclose, but she also finds that
the trick to life doesn’t lie in the best laid plans but in how you react to
the things you never expected.
"Maybe the trick to happiness isn't the best laid plans, but how you react to what you never planned for."
Some Q & A with Dana:
Tell
us a little bit about yourself, and how you started writing.
I have been writing since I was very young. As a young child, I
wrote short stories and silly riddles – Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seussish. In
high school, poetry was a survival skill for me as I navigated the myriad of
adolescent emotions in my life. I wrote
my first book when I was a junior in high school. It was a romance.
What are some things you
enjoy when not writing?
I love to cook,
and I love to travel. My favorite places to go are Marco Island, Florida – to
relax and enjoy the beach, New York City – to eat at the best restaurants in
the world and see Broadway shows, and, of course Europe – to visit my wonderful
French and Italian family.
Is anything in your book
based on real life experiences? Yes, Maria's journey
is based on the real –life story of my Nana, who became pregnant out of wedlock
as a young woman in 1950's Southern Italy and gave birth to my father in a home
for unwed mothers.
Do you have a favorite
chapter or scene?
One of my
favorite scenes is when Maria gives birth. Another is when Tate first arrives
in Italy and has dinner under the grape arbor at her Zia Mimma's house – which
is based on my Zia Mimma's house!
Is there anything you’d
like to say to your readers and fans? Thank you for
reading Beautiful Secret! I hope the story captures your spirit and transports
you to Italy and France – the places that hold my most precious
To connect with Dana:
https://www.amazon.com/Dana-Faletti/e/B01EXDJ1JK
~author of Beautiful Secret and The Whisper Trilogy
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