I am delighted to announce the publication date of my debut novel, Becoming Mariella …
on February 4 2025, by SheWrites Press, to be distributed by Simon & Schuster.
Inspiration for Mariella’s story came from my affinity for all things Sicilian and Italian, having been raised in a half-Sicilian/American family.
My own struggle to find and follow my path in this world served as a touchstone, along with inspiration from my pyschotherapy clients who found the courage to overcome obstacles and have dared, like Mariella, to break free and live true to themselves.
“In her debut novel, Constantino has created a forthright and bold character who owns up to her faults and grows as she matures. Mariella’s choices are skillfully put in perspective in the contexts of the Sicilian and San Francisco communities she lives in and in the backstories of Nonna, who defied tradition in the 1940s by following her heart, and Giovanni, whose unhappy marriage shows that following expectations does not always result in happiness. Readers will easily relate to this enjoyable and honest depiction of the conflicting desires and expectations faced by many people in their 20s.”
An engrossing story about a young woman taking chances to find her way after college. — Kirkus Review
“Mariella speaks to any woman or man who has ever wanted more of a future than what was already laid out for them like an ill-fitting party dress or tuxedo. She takes us along on her journey as she leaves behind her home, her family and even the man she loves to travel to San Francisco in an attempt to find her true self, escape cultural expectations and break free of the complicated relationship with her status-seeking mother. Constantino’s deep understanding of the psychology of human behavior enriches each of her characters.”
Morgan Ray, author of Poetry collections: Sticks and Stones, 2013; Unsolicited Greetings, 2023
Home and family (and passionate Matteo) prove even harder to relinquish than Mariella thought they would be. Author Janet Constantino creates a host of unforgettable--and delightfully unpredictable--characters in this wise and lively novel full of romance, passion, true friendship, and deliciously detailed descriptions of authentic Italian cooking.
Mary Helen Stefaniak, author of The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia; The World of Pondside; and The Six-Minute Memoir: Fifty-Five Short Essays on Life
“In Janet Constantino's captivating novel, Mariella, we meet a young Sicilian woman who has much to be grateful for. Yes, her mother is cruel and histrionic, but Mariella deeply loves her father, her brother and Nonna, her paternal grandmother. She’s about to graduate university. She adores the man she is to marry, the handsome scion of a wealthy family. What more could she wish for? Apparently, a great deal. She will break the engagement, flee the island of her birth, and discover in 21st century San Francisco who she really is and what it is she really wants. Janet Constantino has created in Mariella Russo a character of wonderful complexity: vivacious and self-doubting, bold and skittish, a woman who can lose herself in the perplexities of sex and love and yet, come what may, find herself again.”
David Chandler, actor: stage, screen, voiceover
“Besides being a fabulous writer, in her other life, Ms. Constantino is also a practicing therapist. That helps explain why the relationships between the characters are explored so beautifully and drawn with such incredible depth and insight. You’ll end-up considering them your friends and want to invite most of them over for dinner.
Speaking of dinner…whatever you do, don’t read this book if you’re hungry! The food scenes will make you salivate and you’ll find yourself continually running to the kitchen to get a snack.
I loved this book and I guarantee you will, too. It will whet your appetite for even more of Mariella’s adventures.”
Susan Salenger, author of Sidelined: How Women Can Navigate a Broken Healthcare System, SheWrites Press
“Written with warmth, compassion and insight, this novel follows a young woman as she negotiates her way out of Sicily and into maturity.
It’s an absolutely wonderful read that is no ordinary coming of age story. Mariella is an unforgettable character made whole and completely human through her rich and complex feelings and her fraught relationships. Mariella is determined to grow up and Ms. Constantino deftly shows us that coming into maturity happens not in spite of our challenging relationships but because of them.
Cheers to all the love, conflicts, passions, and decisions both big and small that make us who we are.”
Jill Kane, PsyD
SYNOPSIS —
Becoming Mariella
Sicily, 2000. Mariella Russo graduates university. Desperate to escape Sicily, she is pressured into an engagement with Matteo, the scion of a wealthy, powerful family. Her controlling and envious mother, Yolanda, is determined that nothing will stop the wedding.
Mamma announces the engagement at Mariella’s and Matteo’s graduation dinner. Mariella storms out, declaring that she won't get married.
With the help of her Nonna, Mariella flees to San Francisco. Her roommate, Leslie, is a gay man, rather than the woman she expected.
With Leslie's help, Mariella secures a job at an Italian restaurant, Basilico. She becomes lovers with Giovanni, the owner, old enough to be her father. He falls in love. She doesn’t. Mamma makes an unexpected appearance to lure Mariella back to Sicily. When Mariella refuses, Mamma calculatedly overdoses on sleeping pills, is hospitalized, survives, and flies home.
Leslie and Mariella’s bond deepens when Leslie's lover manipulates and lies to him about everything, as Mamma has manipulated Mariella.
The news that her brother Olimpio, and Matteo’s 18-year-old sister are marrying, sends Mariella back to Sicily.
Leslie goes with her. At the reception, Mamma has a humiliating meltdown. Mariella encounters Matteo in an upstairs bathroom. In the intensity of emotion, he rips her dress. They cry together and make love. She's never stopped loving him.
Still, she insists she can’t stay in Sicily.
Mariella persuades Mamma to cook the Sunday ragu, jointly, as they always did, and finds that things feel lighter between them. Mariella's no longer afraid of her mother’s crazy insults and bitterness, and wonders if her independence has created something new in the ether. Or, has Mamma changed? Papa is also more his own man.
As Mariella and Leslie’s plane arcs into the sky, back to San Francisco, she’s still on uncharted ground. But, now, she belongs to herself. She anticipates, finally, the possibility of joy.