Books and Publications

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Books & Publications The first book Mary read was her father’s copy of The Lives of the Saints. A short while later, she graduated to Nancy Drew mysteries and the Encyclopedia Britannica. She penned her first short story in high school, had a few poems published in her college literary magazine. She truly hopes these artifacts are never excavated. Mary’s official writing career started with the publication of "On Being Italian American: an Introspection" in the Summer/Fall 1990 issue of Sinister Wisdom. Her first novel, No Matter What, followed in 1993. Finding Grace was published in 1999 and her memoir, Voices of the Soft-bellied Warrior came out in 2001. Her newest novel, The Singing of Swans, hits bookstores in October 2006. For a full disclosure of Mary’s publishing history, click here.
	The Singing of Swans Available at Pearlsong Press: www.pearlsongpress.com The Singing of Swans takes protagonist Madelene Ross on a multi-century journey back and forth through time to reclaim her soul and her very contemporary American life. Along the way she encounters healers who fly through rooftops, herbalists who paint flaming images of Black Madonnas, an ancient priestess who helps rescue a Goddess statue from the clutches of an evil 70 BCE governor of Sicily, and an environmentally compromised lake in need of restoration. Elements of magical realism dovetail with historical lore as this compelling tale of redemption unfolds.
	Voices of the Soft-bellied Warrior Available at: Amazon.com Shortly after Saracino’s first novel was published in 1993, she began to experience an inexplicable clenching of her vocal cords. Over a four-year period, she was increasingly unable to speak without great strain. In 1997 the mysterious problem was diagnosed as a rare voice disorder. This memoir is the compelling story of the author’s journey and her struggle to reclaim her voice on physical, spiritual and emotional levels. It is ultimately a tale of epiphany, recovery and redemption. Praising the memoir, Louise DeSalvo wrote: “A stupendous achievement. Saracino speaks here as she has never spoken before; as no one has ever spoken before.”
	Finding Grace Available at: Amazon.com The sequel to No Matter What, this novel focuses on the explosive aftermath of protagonist Regina Giovanni’s mother’s decision to leave her husband and two sons and run off with her three daughters and her lover, a Catholic priest. Finding Grace is an unforgettable story of love, loss, grief, betrayal, and finally hope, as a family struggles to redefine itself and heal after being torn apart. Finding Grace won the 1999 Colorado Authors’ League “Top Hand” Award in the category of Adult Mainstream/Literary Fiction.
	No Matter What Available at: Amazon.com This novel, a 1994 Minnesota Book Award fiction finalist, tells the story of family love and betrayal in the haunting voice of its ten-year-old narrator, Regina Giovanni. As the oldest daughter in her working class Catholic family, Regina is her mother’s confidante. However, as her mother’s extramarital affair with a Catholic priest begins to destroy her family, her mother’s secret soon becomes too much for Regina to bear. In praise of No Matter What Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina, wrote: “Unflinching, insightful, beautifully written…”