My Townie Heart

Laura DiStefano has flunked out of the University of Massachusetts just as the counterculture reaches its peak in the 1970s, and is living back home with her parents and her sister. She can’t deny the embarrassment that she has failed and the fact that she’s now trapped in the blue-collar town she so hoped to escape. 

But Laura soon finds that her sister, a fierce survivor of a childhood attack who has rather foolishly gotten pregnant, needs her help, and she unexpectedly finds love with a local guy.  Even though the school offers to reinstate her scholarship, leaving home again suddenly gets harder.  She’s torn between dreams of a new countercultural life and the undertow of a dysfunctional family. As the conflicts in her life threaten to drag her under, Laura grows agoraphobic. How can she reconcile her divided loyalties and find her genuine life?

“MY TOWNIE HEART is the captivating story of a young woman's search for a home among the ruins of her past and the promise of her future. A rich blend of love and longing, lust and violence, fear and hope. Beautifully crafted, MY TOWNIE HEART is a welcome debut.”
- Robb Cadigan, author of PHOENIXVILLE RISING

"MY TOWNIE HEART is a tender gem of a novel, a fitting entry into America's ‘coming of age’ literature, clean, honest prose.  A great literary debut for Diana Sperrazza."
- James Grady, author of LAST DAYS OF THE CONDOR