Longing for Wickhaven

Longing For Wickhaven is an epic tale that spans the memorable life of Connie Borzanna from her carefree childhood in the nineteen thirtys along with seven sisters born to Italian immigrant parents to the final years of a turbulent chaotic marriage with Dominic Preste. In the early years Dominic was handsome and charismatic with a dark side that escalated to near madness and his abuse against Connie only ended upon his death. The memories of Connies young years with her family in the small coalmining town of Wickhaven Pennsylvania sustained her for her entire life. It was a life she had hoped to have with Dominic but when they married she was blind to the secrets and demons that made him violent and irrational. Though the subject matter of Longing For Wickhaven is dramatic and thought provoking much of the story is humorous and conveys to the reader the joy and love within the Borzanna household. It was a time of innocence and a time when eight sisters were made to feel loved and secure by a stern but gentle mother and a patient protective father who supported his family during Prohibition by bootlegging for Al Capone. The story follows Connie into the later years of her marriage to Dominic and gives the reader access to the dark world beyond the closed doors of the Preste home where a mother struggles to protect herself and her children from the anger and hatred of their father. Dominic seems to relish in the constant fearful and tormented expression on the face of his wife. Connie spends more than fifty years trying to find out the secret her husband is keeping about his fathers death. In his sleep he pleads with his mother.