A review by mhinnen
The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Astarte . . . is a way of life, a spirit, a story we pass down, a way of reminding ourselves that the only way for a woman to survive in this world is to help other women. The stories get passed down through some of the families, but they were lost for many generations.”

 In The Sicilian Inheritance, we get to know Sara whose life is already falling apart when her beloved aunt dies. Before her death, Rosalia prepares a mission for Sara - to go back to their Sicilian roots and claim the land Rosalia had inherited and that will now be Sara’s. While there, Rosalia wants Sara to investigate the death of Rosalia’s mother, Sarafina, a hundred years previously.

Told from the POV of both Sara and Sarafina, we enter a world of organized crime, small town gossip, love affairs, and characters whose trustworthiness is questionable. I loved it! Sarafina’s reputation in the present time is one of a witchy promiscuous woman who died a heretic though her family in the US always remembered her as a saint who died of the flu.

A dual timeline uncovers Serafina’s story while Sara in the present day is also facing unknown dangers and the past and present collide and Jo Piazza leads us through a masterful web. It don’t want to say more because there are so many twists and turns that had me cheering and crying. 

I recently read Did you Hear about Kitty Karr - A book that explores a network of African American women who support one another in undermining an unjust, racist, and misogynistic system. The Sicilian Inheritance had a similar thread and I am delighted to read novels that reveal the strength, creativity, and change that women working in community for a common goal can achieve though not without sacrifice. Their determination paved a way to a better life for women today and we in turn, have a responsibility to continue their legacy.
 

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