Bestselling author Sandra Montanino chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her novel “The Weight of Salt.”
Montanino, a member of the League of Utah Writers, has won numerous awards for her short stories. Her first novel, “The Weight of Salt” won The Outstanding Fiction Award at the Southern California Writer’s Conference. Recently published, it’s a historical romance that takes place in the early 20th century and is inspired by the life of her grandmother, Angelina.
It weighs heavily on the Italian immigrant expression and introduces the reader to the world of Italian culture, their ancient beliefs, and superstitions. It also opens the door to the tragedies, hunger, and suffering and their powerful ‘yearning to breath free’ and determination to come to America.
Montanino lived in three different countries by the time she was eight. This unique exposure to new cultures, surroundings, and languages, and her family’s propensity for storytelling all contributed to igniting her imagination at an early age.
The synopsis of the book is as follows: In an era of two colliding worlds… At the height of women’s fight to gain a vote… A young girl falls in love and must discern the truth from the illusions that surround her.
In 1906 Florida, the cigar capital of the world, suffragettes march for a vote, the Mafia terrorizes neighborhoods, and girls are expected to marry whom their strict Sicilian fathers choose. Angelina Pirrello, dutiful, bright, and ambitious, finds herself abruptly torn from her mother and left to abide by her well-meaning Italian father’s rigid beliefs.
When she falls in love with a suitor who doesn’t meet the ideal her father has set, she finds herself promised in an arranged marriage to a man she detests. Forced to choose between her father, and following her heart, Angelina makes a daring move to take destiny into her own hands.
But such a choice comes with devastating consequences that threaten to shatter her world… Travel on a journey of love, heartbreak, passion, and the unexpected with Angelina as she discovers “The Weight of Salt.”
Every book, has a story about its creation, what’s the story behind ‘The Weight of Salt’, which is a rather epic read?
My family is from Ybor City (Tampa) Florida. My great-grandfather Domenico arrived in the 1880s. He arrived with only a few dollars and could not speak English. It’s the story of his oldest child, his daughter Angelina and how their lives were destined to collide as she grew, fell in love, and was determined to free herself from his old-world beliefs and what it cost her to do it.
The ‘Weight of Salt’ takes readers back into the early 1900s in Florida, what was it like for you to research this era, and what drew you to it in the first place?
Angelina Pirrello is actually my grandmother. This story was carried by all my relatives from generation to generation. I heard it many times as I grew up. If it could survive so many decades and into a new century, it was a story worth telling. It is a story rich with lessons, sayings, and traditions.
Angelina Pirrello is a very compelling character, one that I would love to meet in person. Who or what was the inspiration for this amazing woman?
I was very inspired by her life. She was very bright and caught between the old Sicilian culture and the excitement that she might be able to spread her wings and fulfill her dreams as a first-generation American, but the world was not ready for her. She was born into a time women had few options and the Suffragettes were fighting for women’s right to vote.
While writing this book did you learn anything new about yourself?
I made many calls back to Florida to my family and to the Ybor City Museum to learn more about the time, place, and people. These early immigrants were the salt of the earth. They left everything and everyone behind to take a chance and come to a new country to fulfill their dreams. My cousin told me, never forget you come from very strong stock.
Your fans are no doubt wondering what’s next. Do you have another book or projects in the works you can tell us about?
This is Book One in a trilogy. I expect Book two to come out in February 2022. It is already written and I am receiving edits. Book two, The Weight of Betrayal, has an enormous drama and passion as Angelina forges ahead to take hold of her life.
“The Weight of Salt” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
