About Greetings from Asbury Park:
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1943 Rome Italy;
Fifteen-year-old Mariella frowns at her reflection. Bones jut out where curves should be budding. Under German occupation, life was unbearable. Added to her misery, Mariella must leave school, her only pleasure. As the oldest of four girls, she has a duty to join her father and help the family survive, but nothing can prepare her for the horrors she would witness.
After nine months, Allied Forces liberated Rome. However, Mariella and her family still struggle. Words unspoken create a wall between her and her mother, while sins from the past keep Mariella from forging her way.
While selling postcards at the Colosseum, she meets Jack, a handsome American soldier from Asbury Park, New Jersey. Although they come from distant worlds, they share the bonds of war. Mariella spends the day with him, and suddenly she sees a future for herself. Everything makes sense, but not for long. The following morning, Jack’s platoon ships off for Japan. Mariella wishes she could make time standstill. She memorizes every scar weaving through his palm as they walk to his pickup point, hand in hand. After exchanging addresses, Jack promises to write. Pen Pals is what they would be. It wasn’t enough, but it had to do.
As several years pass, they try to move on while sharing snippets of their lives through letters and cards. Then everything changes when Jack receives a mysterious package in the mail that compels him to face the truth about his feelings. He arranges to sail back to Rome, but tragedy strikes Mariella’s family, and she goes quiet. Now Jack needs to decide if their bond was a reality or just another casualty of war.
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Author Bio:
Luigina Vecchione is an actress and now a writer living with her husband in New York City. This is her debut novel but she is already working on a sequel due out Christmas 2022!