View Sample Chapters

  The discovery of long hidden love letters leads 35-year-old Cara Serafini on a journey to understanding her formidable grandmother Giulia Fiorillo. Dancing on Sunday Afternoons is Giulia’s story, unfolding from memories rekindled by the letters Cara reads aloud to her.  Born in a mountain village in southern Italy, Giulia arrives in a rough New York immigrant neighborhood at the beginning of the twentieth century, forced from the comforts and constrictions of her family by the fierce drive of her mother. In America, Giulia faces not only an inhospitable culture but also violence in the family and in the streets, shattering loss and a love that shapes her whole life.