California Sister (Atmosphere Press, September 2022), is set in Bergamo, Italy, and Los Angeles. It is a multi-award winning novel, the 2022 Indies Today Winner for Best Contemporary Fiction, the November 2023 International Book of the Month picked by The Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys International Book Club and Reading Nation, and received stellar reviews from readers and book organizations.
"Everyone will experience love, grief and loss in life. Having closure is the most difficut part. This book helped me find it. This book is better than therapy!" —GoodReads reviewer
"A touching novel about sisterly love. An immediate audience-grabber and practical parable about the choices we make and the priorities that matter to us." —Readers' Favorite (5-star review)
"Cathartic, poignant and sensitive, California Sister explores the fine line where selflessness and selfishness coalesce into a muddle mess. Gloria Mattioni's heartrending novel is not the first to walk such emotionally charged ground, but it might be the best!" –Indies Today (5-star review)
California Sister is available in different formats through bookstores and online vendors like Amazon US, Amazon Australia, Amazon India, Amazon Japan, Amazon Canada, Amazon Italia, Barnes and Noble, Indie Bound, Book Depository, Bookshop, Kobo, Apple Books
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California Sister is also part of the Indie Author Project and the Indie California Collection. You can request it through your own library System using the link: California Sister Library Request
Bergamo, Italy.
SYNOPSIS
A sister's love vs a cruel fate. A story of fierce love and heartbreaking grief. Claire Waters, an Italian mystery writer living in Los Angeles rushes to Italy after her older sister's devastating brain-hemorrhage, determined to restore her health—or help her die with dignity. Claire is a gritty decision-maker, a lone wolf who values freedom above all else. Her sister, Ondina—now walking on the edge of death or a severely limited life—is wise, cautious, and sociable. They may be different, but have remained close despite the distance. Claire is faced with a dilemma impossible to solve. Would her non-verbal sister want to go on struggling, damaged as she is, or end her suffering? Forsaking her career, Claire hardly leaves her sister's side, refusing to give up the tiniest hope of healing. It takes an exhausting and lonely year for stubborn Claire to surrender enough to listen to her silent sister.
Cover illustration and Design by Maria Loor © 2022