BOOKS
FICTION - Historical - Romance - Coming of Age
A Gripping Story of Love and Courage.
In an era of two colliding worlds… At the height of women’s fight to gain a vote...
A young girl falls in love and must discern the truth from the illusions that surround her.
Travel on a journey of love, heartbreak, passion, and the unexpected with Angelina as she discovers “The Weight of Salt.”
In the spellbinding 2nd book of the Angelina Pirrello saga, Angelina is caught up in the Immigrant world of Ybor City known as The Cigar Capital and shadowed by the criminal element of the Italian Mafia's Black Hand.
Broken free from her father's domination, Angelina is forced to decide between the two loves of her life, as she discovers a shocking truth that leaves her devastated and frantic.
The Weight of Salt (Book One)
A Gripping Story of Love and Courage.
Florida, 1906 – In the northeast section of Tampa, called Ybor City and known as The Cigar Capital of the World, comes an intimate part of American history that is seldom found in books and susceptible to be forgotten.
Although fiction, The Weight of Salt is inspired by a real person, a real time, and real events. Fifteen-year-old, Angelina Pirrello is bright and excited for her life to begin when she is abruptly torn from her mother’s love and is left to abide by her father’s rigid Italian beliefs. It is the era of unprecedented immigration, the Mafia is terrorizing Italian neighborhoods and store owners, and the fierce fight of the Suffragettes to gain the vote for women.
It is a time when dreams of American freedoms are celebrated and threatened. The old world across the sea clashes with the new, and a young girl must make a choice to fortify or forfeit her spirit. Yet, in the midst of the biggest fire in Florida’s history, and the loss of legions of cigar factories, amid the chaos, Angelina unexpectedly encounters Rolando and soon discovers the force of falling in love. Yet, her dreams are quickly shattered when her father ignores her desire to marry for love and promises her hand in an arranged marriage to an older man she dislikes.
This novel touches on every human emotion, love, joy, heartbreak, passion, and the unexpected. Only because those who lived this story have passed away and cannot testify, this novel is historical fiction and not simply historical fact.
With powerful insight and sensitivity, Sandra Montanino’s debut novel illuminates this long-ago story. She brings us a beautiful, warm, inspiring, yet heartbreakingly novel that celebrates the resilience of one girl. This is a novel for everyone and a tribute to those who lived through it all and those that told and retold their story.
Winner of the Southern California Writers Conference "Outstanding Fiction Award."
"A story that is compelling, complex, and especially satisfying. It's highly recommended reading for historical romance readers who look for an emphasis on the sociology and history of the times as well as evolving romance."
- D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Publisher: Edwards Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-7345090-0-7 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-7345090-1-4 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-7345090-2-1 (hardback)
