Last night I traveled all over Italy and even spent some time in Montreal: a book review of Daughter of Mine

How Daughter of Mine by Laura Fabiani hijacked my evening

Sometimes I think I should just tell my boss the truth. Look, I could say, I know sometimes I show up for work a little late, a little groggy. I make up the time, and I know you don’t mind, but I wanted to explain.

Fact is, I keep getting backed into corners by really good books.

This is what happened last night: I grabbd Laura Fabiani’s book (which you can do too, and for free – but there are limited copies available, so grabb it here while you still can! And don’t worry, I’m not heinously misspelling the word ‘grab’ – check out BookGrabbr details here) for some light reading while I waited for the water to boil so I could throw in some pasta for dinner, and then I forgot all about dinner and also the fact that I had to be up at 6 am this morning, and I read straight through the book. Then, past 2 am, when all hope of a good night’s sleep was long gone (and so was the boiling water, which is yet another reason I should be allowed nowhere near a kitchen, ever), I started sketching out a review, because I know you guys love Italy, and so I think you’re going to enjoy this novel as much as I did.

When Italian-Canadian Tiziana Manoretti discovers she was born in an orphanage in Naples, she takes a break from a promising career and a totally cute guy in Canada to travel to the tiny, ancient town of Gaeta and unravel the mystery of who she belongs to, and of where she started. Of course, this is just the beginning of the story: chaos ensues, and her search takes Tiziana from beautiful Gaeta to mysterious Naples, all the way to stunning Rome, and back again. Ms. Fabiani has a gift for making these cities come to life—if you’ve been to the places she describes, you’ll get that pleasant zing of recognition (Hey! I love that spot!), and if you haven’t been there yet, you’ll find yourself tiptoeing through the Grotta del Turco in sandal-bound feet. Daughter of Mine is poignant and mysterious, but also lighthearted, humorous and a little bit sexy—much like the country Tiziana finds herself in.

What happens to Tiziana? And the totally cute guy? Well, I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that if you’re wanting to immerse yourself for a little while in a great family mystery, or feel like taking a stroll through sundrenched Gaeta and heading to Rome for a mysterious photography shoot, then this story will take you there, in a couple of hours, with no airfare to worry about. You don’t even have to pack for it.

Which is, of course, one of the reasons I love being taken hostage by books. But that’s a conversation I need to have with my boss.

About the Author of Daughter of Mine

Laura Fabiani is an author, book reviewer, entrepreneur and blogger since 2009. She owns iRead Book Tours and Italy Book Tours, PR companies that offer professional virtual book tours and author services.  She has a degree in Special Care Counseling and has worked as a psychiatric child counselor and a special education technician at various institutions. Laura has helped develop and implement adapted programs for seniors with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. You can connect with her on Library of Clean Reads.