A SALTY ONION (POCKET-SIZED) PIE KIND OF LOVE: A Coming-of-Age Bestseller

Liana Raffaella Pantaleone, post-war child of the 1950s, uncommon adult of the 1970s, has a mane of chestnut hair inherited from her beloved grandmother, the height of her father that is only one of her characteristics acting as the bane of her mother’s life, a magnetic and engaging smile from which no person is immune, and a singular, innate talent as an artist that is surely God-given. Luring her from the life-long, abusive clutches of her mother, and the eventual neglect of her father, are friends and family that recognize the sincere goodness of her spirit, and, without declaration or fanfare, make her their own. Gravitating to open hearts and extended hands, Liana absorbs the wisdom of her grandfather, Pop Pantaleone; the meaning of unwavering love from her Aunties, Francesca and Raffaella; the power of unrestricted respect and deference from her Uncles, Marco and Patrizio, and friends, Albano and Santo; and the immeasurable value of enduring friendship and support from her neighbors, Gemma and Albano.
Blessed with a natural talent for drawing and art, from early childhood, Liana Pantaleone’s desire to study others and document their life journeys on canvas becomes the hallmark of her person. From the lines and creases on the faces of all those she meets, to the ways in which they hold and use their bodies, to the chosen colors and materials with which they choose to dress, to the experiences lived that they care to share, she creates drawings and paintings that honor the people of New York City. Designated as New York’s Artist by art critics everywhere, Liana falls into unending love with Greenbough Dolan, an artist from the mountains of South Carolina whose mystical paintings include enlivened angels that tend to all aspects of the human condition of those they watch over, the high colors of God, and the symbols of Irish and mountain folklore taught to him by his Granny Dolan. Through the vehicle of oils on canvases and pencil drawings, from the encompassing love Greenbough brings into her life, and from the life-embracing values instilled in her by her extended family and friends throughout her lifetime, the adult Liana Raffaella Pantaleone extends, abundantly and with no thought of self, heartfelt gratitude and unending generosity to her world.
Read about Francesca Mannino, nurturer of orphans, who raises Liana into adulthood and who venerates Jesus and the Virgin even as she reads Tarot to give comfort to others and make her living; Greenbough Dolan, Liana’s love, who Pop describes, not as Liana’s North but as her East; Sam Pantaleone, her charming brother; The Seven Brothers of Staten Island, their amazing parents and grandparents, and the amusement complex they build; Liana’s neighbor, Old Sophia and her five cats, the arlys; Irish Jimmy Riley and his often-times surprising connections to the Pantaleones and Tortorellis; Old Man Santini and his proclivities for mobster justice; Jimmy and Frank Baxter, physically abused as children but grown into healthy and happy men; Marco and Santo Mannino and their carriage-drawing horses, Giant and Annabelle; Doc Irving Frankel and his 1950s-style medical attention to his neighborhood; Greenbough’s art teacher, Prissy Reagan, and her penchant for loving the artist more than the canvas; the Dolans of the mountains of South Carolina who found the infant Greenbough on their doorstep and raised him as their own; and Albano, the neighborhood baker, with a flair not only for baking, but with a gift for embracing and forwarding enduring friendship and a love of family.
Part I offers an Introduction of Families and Key Characters; Part II presents the novel: a saga of hope and fulfillment; and Part III, a short story, About Pop, extends the life of the Pantaleone family patriarch and his impact on Liana Pantaleone and others.
The author invites meaningful and kind reviews. In gratitude for the experience of writing later in life, 10% of author royalties will be donated to charities