Stella Mia

Rosanna Chiofalo's poignant, beautifully written new novel evokes the stunning scenery of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands and tells of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice—and the choices that resound across continents and through generations.Julia Parlatone doesn't have much to remember her Italian mother by. A grapevine that Sarina planted still flourishes in the backyard of Julia's childhood home in Astoria, Queens. And there's a song, "Stella Mia," she recalls her mother singing—my star, my star, you are the most beautiful star—until the day she left three-year-old Julia behind and returned to Italy for good.Now a happily married school teacher, Julia tries not to dwell on a past she can't change or on a mother who chose to leave. But in an old trunk in the family basement, she discovers items that belonged to her mother—a song book, Tarot cards, a Sicilian folk costume—and a diary. Sarina writes unflinchingly of her harsh childhood...