Winner of the Southern California Writers Conference "Outstanding Fiction Award"

The Weight of Salt is a gripping story of love and courage. It is 1906, and 15-year-old Angelina Pirrello is devastated by an unexpected and startling event that will forever alter the course of her life. 

Known as the Cigar Capital of the World, an influx of immigrants arrives in Ybor City, Florida, seeking work. The suffragettes are in an impassioned battle for women’s rights and the early mafia, known as the Black Hand, makes their presence known as they attempt to gain a stranglehold on Angelina’s Italian community. 

Despite Angelina’s determination to improve her life, she is forced into menial labor. Believing her circumstances could not become more difficult, a raging fire erupts at her factory. It is at this moment of panic when she has a chance encounter with a young man who swiftly captures her heart. 

But through a series of circumstances out of her control, her joy is shattered and further complicated when her strict, old-world Sicilian father, who instills rigid family traditions, announces he has arranged her marriage to a man she dislikes. Frantic, Angelina finds herself at a crossroads and must make a daring move, risking everything she has ever known.