Book Review: The Tale Of Lucia Grandi by Susan Speranza

This last month I had the opportunity to read The Tale of Lucia Grandi, written by Susan Speranza.

I have to say that this book grabbed my attention from the beginning. I didn’t want to put it down once I started reading.
The story begins with a older woman named Lucia who is recalling the days of her childhood and youth. She felt like she was
never loved or wanted right from the beginning of her life, since her mother and father both were hoping for son. Her
mother and father constantly fight throughout her childhood and Lucia is subjected to both verbal and physical abuse. Her
older sister Lynn was constantly in competition with Lucia for the attentions of their parents. The only person in her life
that seemed to really love her was her grandfather, Bernard. He was the only person that seemed to really know and
understand her.
As Lucia grows up, it seems that her life doesn’t get any easier. She was sent to a very strict Catholic school which was
difficult because she had to leave her close friends behind. She found it very hard to behave in school and was in trouble
often. As she gets older, she begins to feel alienated even from her friends and even contemplates suicide. She finally
tries running away from her family, only to be found by her father.
As Lucia gets older and finally graduates high school, she starts to see the light at the end of tunnel. She desperately
wants to leave home to attend college. After a long battle with her parents, she finally settles on a college about an hour
away from home. She had a hard time deciding what she wanted to do with her life, and changed from one college major to
another. This angered her father so she began working part time at several different jobs during college. It was at about
this time that while working at one of her part time jobs, she was to meet her future husband, a young man named Clifford.

The story ends with Lucia and Clifford hastily leaving her home after a horrible fight with her parents.
The end of this story really left me wishing for more. I want to know what happened next to Lucia, and I can only hope that
her life with Clifford was much better than it was with her parents. I found myself admiring Lucia for all that she had been through. She was such a strong person and had so much to offer the world if just given the chance.
I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting, easy to read story.