Sophia's Exit Strategy

About the Book

As a child living in her native Palermo, Italy, Sophia Lucarno, was “different” from what is usually considered “normal,” and consequently, suffered from the taunts and abuse of other children. As a result of this abuse, Sophia developed a survival mechanism which enabled her to go deep inside herself, sufficiently shutting out the world. This tendency to be silent with herself became a regular feature of her personality. As an adult, Sophia continued to resort to this state of silence in order to fight back against the traumas of her life. Despite her extraordinary beauty, it was obvious to Sophia’s father, Salvatore Lucarno, that she would never be able to get a husband from among the local men, so he arranged to marry her off to the American, Sergio Borelli. Sergio Borelli, husband to Sophia, married her and brought her to live in New York’s Little Italy. The marriage was not a “love marriage,” but an arranged marriage that involved a sufficiently large bride price. Upon arriving in New York and running into Sophia’s brick wall of silence, he began to believe he had been duped and that he had actually purchased an inferior human being. In his outrage at being stuck with an inferior wife, he begins to verbally and physically abuse Sophia. Sophia forms a relationship with a local Jewish laundry/dry cleaner and a wealthy widow who become her support system against her husband Sergio. They help her plan her first escape. Meanwhile, Sergio who is a low-ranking member of the neighborhood Mafia calls on the organization for help in locating and returning his escaped wife. The intrigue, comedy, pathos and triumphs that permeate this book make for an exciting and rewarding reading experience. There are so many twists and turns and surprise developments, that one becomes anxious to know what happen

About the Author

C. P. Caruso is a teacher and writer living in New York City.