Southern Italy

Since childhood Helene Stapinski heard lurid tales about her great-great-grandmother, Vita. In Southern Italy she was a loose woman who had murdered someone. Immigrating to America with three children, she lost one along the way. Helene's youthful obsession with Vita deepened as she grew up, eventually propelling the journalist to Italy, where, with her own children in tow, she pursued the story, determined to set the record straight.

Want to know more about Italian wines? Want to impress your friends and family with quirky facts? Want to discover new, exciting, passionate, innovative, and authentic wine makers, from vegan to organic? With its blazing sunshine, fascinating wine-making history, innumerable native grape varieties, and diverse, often volcanic soils, Southern Italy is currently one of the most exciting parts of the world for wine. The Ancient Greeks, called it Oenotria, meaning "the land of wine".

Beth is a creative, contemplative soul and a loving mom. She is at a crossroads in her marriage and without a clear sense of her gifts and inherent worth. When her spirited Aunt Ro falls while turning to toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Beth embarks on a journey that leads to her ancestral village in Italy, the discovery of a family secret, and a new understanding of herself. 

A single event in her childhood irrevocably marked Catherine Gaillard, and made it impossible for her to leave her cloistered mountaintop town in Tennessee for the next 30 years. But her devotion to her husband, Joe, and her desire to forever put the incident behind her propel Cat on a life-changing trip to Italy.