I was first intrigued by the topic of illicit but loyal love but after reading the book I became more interested in the strength of the author who was able to pursue a career even as she maintained her secret relationship with a public figure until he left the Church and as she faced the rejection of her parents and some family members. These two burdens alone could have felled an average woman today but she was also coming of age in an era of turbulent social mores which placed greater strains on her life and yet she persevered. This is a worthwhile read for those who are interested in immigrant assimilation issues, feminism, New York urban development, and Italian American issues. I enjoyed the first half of the book the most because it evoked such a passion for life but the last half of the book honestly detailed their relationship thus saving it from being just another storybook romance.

Under the Rose by Flavia Alaya

Let me start by saying that I've known the author for many years. When I received a copy of this book I was curious. Within a few seconds I was plunged deep into her Italian immigrant family, so strongly depicted that you almost smell tomato and garlic sauce steaming from the pages. I had thought I knew them. Now I understand that I didn't even begin to know my own family, and I barely knew my friend.

She has remembered for us with unremitting honesty one womanlife impelled by the dynamics only possible in late 20th century America, emerging from the Roman Catholic traditions of Europe into the political upheavals of the 60s. She tells us what happened to her and how she felt about it, avoiding the pitfalls of psychological interpretation, self-pity and justification. This is how it was for her, driven by inner passion, perhaps not yet fully understood, into a impossible relationship nurtured by both defiance and high ideals, balancing a challenging public career, a hidden family life, and political action around her irresistible love. I knew she was always very busy; but of her indomitable strength and courage I had only inkling. While we were all wondering about managing a career and a family, she was taking on whole dimensions of additional stresses. I think it should be classed as a survival manual for those who demand everything life can possibly offer.

I laughed and I cried and I understood things about my own mother as the author discovered hers; I was stirred to question dozens of my own accepted assumptions. The book has moved and astonished me. I didn't know my friend could write like this.

-J.L.