Two book reviews–The Madonna of Pisano and A Sicilian Farewell both by MaryAnn Diorio

Today’s blog is a book review of two books by one of my favorite authors–MaryAnn Diorio–The Madonna of Pisano and A Sicilian Farewell. I love her writing and her sweet spirit for Christ, and wanted to finish this second book sooner, but with two other writing projects of my own going on, I read until after eleven last night to finish the second novel. I had to know what happened to Luca Tonetta!

But, I am getting ahead of myself! In The Madonna of Pisano we meet Maria Landro, a young woman with a child but no husband. Nowadays that can be common, but in the  1880s in Sicily, it was very rare and was treated with shame. To her family’s credit, they still supported and loved her and her child, although she told no one the father’s name. I don’t want to give away the story, but can tell you there is confession and forgiveness by the end of the tale.

The Madonna of Pisano is a sweet love story between Maria and Luca Tonetta, the village tailor. These two lovebirds are the main characters in A Sicilian Farewell which is a not so happy story for much of the book. Although Luca and Maria still love each other, they experience many trials along the way as they move to America.

The author says in the back of this book that “The seed for this second story was planted more than one hundred years ago, when (her) paternal grandfather set sail for America…This story was written as a tribute to (her grandparents and) to all immigrants…More than that, however, this is the story of Christ’s redemptive love and enduring faithfulness in the midst of the worst situations.”

If you like to read real-to-life historical fiction that shows how God can work even evil for our good, then you will love these two stories, and I can’t wait for the third book in The Italian Chronicles Trilogy to be released soon–Return to Bella Terra. Hope you can read these two novels, and then you will be eager to read the sequel also.