Sixty years after leaving Italy, the usually tight-lipped Maria hints at a dark world of Mafia connections and dangerous liaisons. Her adult son desperately needs to know if her recent ramblings are cruel tricks of dementia or the sinister truth.
1966 Scilla, Italy
A young seamstress's unsanctioned affair with a member of the notorious Ndrangheta leads to exile from her beloved Calabrian bergamot groves and into a proxy marriage to an unknown Australian sugar cane farmer. During the lengthy ocean voyage, she meets another proxy bride. By the time they disembark, they've concocted a plan to beat the system.
Present Day, Sydney Australia
Forty-something Joe is suspicious. Recent exchanges with his mother suggest leaving Italy was more complicated than routine immigration. Unfortunately, he's in a race against time and dementia to capture her stories. Maria agrees to share what happened-as long as Joe takes another crack at love. After all, Maria wants the same thing every good mother wants-her son to be happy. Joe doesn't know Maria already has a woman in mind.
Join Joe in this gripping tale of love, betrayal, family-ties, and complicated cover-ups. Perfect for readers of dual timeline historical mysteries like Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden and The Quarantine Station by Michelle Montebello.
