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Viviana, propelled by loss, has developed a patience to survive. Coming to America as an immigrant child without parents, she built a family of her own, but was left alone after their tragic death. Kathleen’s life has been without ambition and hampered by the selfishness of others, leading to self-doubt. She came to America as a young woman to be a nanny and finds work sewing, just to subsist.
Viviana shares stories about her clients—a daughter showing her father she can take over the family publishing business, a young woman who through her relationship with a thief learns about her own ability to choose, and a woman haunted by the death of her transgender twin. Each story sparks a conversation on how Viviana and Kathleen can take control of their own lives. Viviana tries to stay positive and nurtured through her stories; while Kathleen struggles to maintain a living, and is confronted with a decision to return to Ireland and her family. More Than Making Ends Meet displays camaraderie and comfort during Viviana's and Kathleen's weekly meetings on a park bench as they commiserate about their jobs as a cleaning lady and a seamstress. |
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"In her inventive novella More Than Making Ends Meet, Phyllis Carito creates powerful portraits of otherwise ordinary people caught in the complex web of family dynamics. Some are poignant, some are infuriating, some are shocking, and all are made more powerful by being told in real time through the eyes of a woman, a humble housecleaner, who moves quietly among them. The thread running throughout the rich tapestry of this slim volume is the corrosive nature of lies—within families, between friends, even in our own self-deception. Like her narrator, Carito brings this home to the reader with quiet yet forceful persuasion." — Karen Sirabian, Author of Hogge Wild: A Gordon Strange Mystery
Other Books By Phyllis
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