Loved It! Camille Di Maio’s ‘Before the Rain Falls’ Full of Heartbreak and Hope

Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio

Camille Di Maio’s Before the Rain Falls explores the 1940s, when Della was charged with murdering her sister and spent many years of her life in jail. Now an old woman, she returns to her family home in Puerto Pesar, Texas, with no family or friends. Around the same time, Paloma returns to the Texas home she grew up in to care for her grandma and reconnect with her teenage sister. In Boston, aggressive journalist Mick, reprimanded for running a story with inaccuracies is sent to Puerto Pesar on a mission for a soft news story about a painting of a girl that appears to be crying. Each chapter reveals more about Della and Paloma, and we get a glimpse into their families’ histories, revealing how their lives are surprisingly intertwined. Mick is the catalyst to bring Della, the old woman just out of jail who knows about the painting, and Paloma, his new friend, together as he learns how asking the right questions and moving at a slower pace can lead to greater results and bring understanding, joy and love.

Through storytelling, author Camille Di Maio brings to light how decisions based on faith can be life-changing, offering hope and a reason to live, but also causing one to protect a loved one leading to their own demise. In contrast, always being pragmatic and factual may push one to achieve their goals to reach financial and career success, but relationships and a personal life may suffer and have an emptiness to it. Before the Rain Falls is simultaneously heartbreaking, hopeful, and joyous: a story of complex characters with varied pasts and bright futures. Loved it!