“Chasing Cobwebs” is an engrossing tale of Marianna Vecchi Marin and her family, both past and present.

iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 0595374522
Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (7/06)

“Chasing Cobwebs” is an engrossing tale of Marianna Vecchi Marin and her family, both past and present.  In her present family, she is the disconnected mother of eighteen-year-old Matthew and sixteen-year-old Kaitlin.  She is also the wife to Keith, who is unfaithful to Marianna.  Marianna lives in her own fantasy land where the troubles of reality simply do not exist.  She plays elaborate games with her husband in order to pretend that their marriage is still alive.  She barely pays attention to her children and feels that it is best that they learn to fend for themselves.

Marianna is dealt a huge blow when her husband leaves her.  As much as she resists, Marianna is finally forced to face reality and realize that her fantasy land does not exist.  In order to come to terms with her current life, she begins to explore her past as the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Milan, Antonio Vecchi.  Antonio has left a legacy of lies and deceit to all who survived him.  Marianna begins to untangle the webs her father weaved and finds a way out.

“Chasing Cobwebs” is well-written and very engrossing.  The drama and dynamics of the characters make this book hard to put down.  While I found myself pitying Marianna more than I liked her, the book overall was well worth the read.