A mysterious woman named Abigail. An even more mysterious psychiatrist named Lucciano. Two lives hiding many secrets.
In the early 1900s, Abigail boards a train in the Italian city of Turin, determined to start a new life. With little money and no prospects, she is befriended by a young couple she meets on the train, who invite her to stay with them until she finds a job.
In the small city of Brescia, Abigail attracts the attention of Lucciano, who until that moment had shown little interest in any woman. When they meet, he offers her work in his vineyards and large household, which he also manages in addition to his psychiatry practice. She rudely declines, frightened by her sudden attraction to him, but desperation for a position leads her to his door.
“This story is based on facts that occurred in the life of my great-grandmother, Abigail, an amazing woman who experienced true love,” writes author Kelli Bonadio at the beginning of Secrets of the Solarium, her first novel.
It’s a sprawling romance that gradually reveals personalities, desires, motives — and secrets.
A WOMAN IN HIDING WHO CAN’T ESCAPE HER PAST
At Lucciano’s large villa, Abigail (who has told everyone her name is Catherine), eventually becomes Lucciano’s secretary. She proves adept in helping him write letters to his patients and business associates, until he dictates a letter to someone named Michaela: “Please come back as soon as possible and give yourself to me, for I will love you, caress, and adore you always.”
Conflicted by her feelings, Abigail finds comfort in her friendship with others in Lucciano’s employ: Abasi, the huge black man who is Lucciano’s bodyguard; Mama, the motherly cook, and Maria, the cheerful widow who serves as housekeeper.
Abigail’s special retreat is the villa’s solarium, a large glass enclosure filled with exotic plants and flowers. Noticing how she is drawn to this space, Lucciano adds furniture and a bed for her there. Abigail is unaware of how the glass walls allow him to watch her while she sleeps. Or that he reads her diary.
Abigail’s past catches up with her when a mysterious man who has been searching for her arrives at the villa. To say anything more about what happens next — and there is much still to come — would be revealing too many spoilers. Suffice to say that there are more secrets, joy, heartbreak, conflicts and resolutions, all of which are the ingredients for a compelling read.
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About Kelli Bonadio:
Kelli Bonadio is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and now lives in Massachusetts. It is of interest to note that Secrets of the Solarium is also available in Portuguese. Whatever the language, it is the voice of the human heart that compels her writing. “I have always been passionate about emotional aspects, personal interests, and motivations,” she writes in her Amazon author bio. “In each story, there is a little about myself.”
