An Evening with Juliet Grames: The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia

One unidentified skeleton. Three missing men. A village full of secrets. The best-selling author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna brings us a sparkling—by turns funny and moving—novel about a young American woman turned amateur detective in a small village in Southern Italy (“Terrific” –Boston Globe).

Phoenix Books and Vermont Italian Cultural Association are honored to present an evening with best-selling author Juliet Grames for a reading and discussion on her new novel, The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia.

About the book:

Calabria, 1960. Francesca Loftfield, a twenty-seven-year-old, starry-eyed American, arrives in the isolated mountain village of Santa Chionia tasked with opening a nursery school. There is no road, no doctor, no running water or electricity. And thanks to a recent flood that swept away the post office, there’s no mail, either.
Most troubling, though, is the human skeleton that surfaced after the flood waters receded. Who is it? And why don’t the police come and investigate? When the local priest's housekeeper begs Francesca to help determine if the remains are those of her long-missing son, Francesca begins to ask a lot of inconvenient questions. As an outsider, she might be the only person who can uncover the truth. Or she might be getting in over her head. As she attempts to juggle a nosy landlady, a suspiciously dashing shepherd, and a network of local families bound together by a code of silence, Francesca finds herself forced to choose between the charitable mission that brought her to Santa Chionia, and her future happiness, between truth and survival.
Set in the wild heart of Calabria, a land of sheer cliff faces, ancient tradition, dazzling sunlight—and one of the world’s most ruthless criminal syndicates—The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia is a suspenseful puzzle mystery, a captivating romance, and an affecting portrait of a young woman in search of a meaningful life.

Juliet Grames is the best-selling author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in Real Simple, Parade, and The Boston Globe, and she is the recipient of an Ellery Queen Award from the Mystery Writers of America. She is editorial director at Soho Press in New York.

About Vermont Italian Cultural Association: The Vermont Italian Cultural Association (VICA) is dedicated to preserving and promoting Italian culture in Vermont. We welcome anyone interested in Italian culture, arts, language, history and other aspects of Italian civilization. You don't need to be Italian to appreciate Italian culture. For more information please visit: https://www.vermontitalianculturalassociation.org

DATE: Wednesday, October 16th, 7PM

LOCATION: Phoenix Books 89 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401

TICKETS: $3. Your ticket comes with a coupon for $3 off one of the featured author's books. Coupons expire at closing the evening of the event. Tickets can be purchased at the registration link below, or at the door.

BOOKS: Signed copies of The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia will be available at the event. A book signing will follow the reading and discussion.

Host or Publisher Phoenix Books