What would you do if your parents told you an outrageous lie about your mother’s family? What would you do if your family turned against you because you married the man you loved? What would you do if your husband abused you? In Kalayla, a smart-mouthed bi-racial 11-year-old girl, her widowed Irish mother, and their 72-year-old Italian landlady answer these questions as they confront the legacy of the past in 1999 Cambridge, MA. The three discover that family need not be biological. They find out that love can pry open closed hearts. They learn that forgiveness can help to heal raw wounds. Anyone who has experienced the angularities, rigid pockets, and soft sports of family life can take hope from reading Kalayla.