Secrets of Sant'angelo: 6 Hardcover - 2005

by Jeff Shapiro

Fortune may be blind, but misfortune sees us all too clearly...

At least that's what the townspeople of Sant'Angelo D'Asso have come to believe. The small Italian village, an hour's train ride south of Siena, has been hit with a spate of sfortuna-bad luck-that hasn't let up all season. Endless rain, debilitating influenza, and bizarre deaths have befallen this town, leaving its people with a diehard faith in the power of curses-and a deep longing for a miracle.

Now that miracle may have swept into town, in the form of two mysterious newcomers who bring with them an unexpectedly hot sun in the middle of December. Rosa Spina Innocenti is a sinfully beautiful woman full of incredible stories. Her grown son, Emanuelle Mosè, may be quiet and withdrawn, but he seems to possesses the ability to heal people and animals. In a short time, the pair convince those eager to believe that they've been sent by a higher being-and wind up inspiring faith in a community hungry for spiritual delight and good fortune.

But just as the townspeople begin to succumb to the mystical appeal of this charming duo, another stranger arrives. And soon his presence threatens not only to come between one betrothed couple, but to tear apart a close-knit community that will do nearly anything-even turn on each other-for proof of a power greater than themselves.