Tesoro: The Treasured Life of a Discarded Daughter

by Veronica Picone

Nothing is greater than the force that tears a family apart, except the force that brings it back together. Spanning half a century and crossing the globe to New York, Colombia, Italy and Las Vegas, Tesoro traces the challenges Veronica Picone faces as a daughter excluded by her family for thirty years. Just seventeen when she is ordered to leave home, Picone is thrust into the social and political upheaval of 1960’s New York with no place to belong. Through her eyes we experience the world of a woman who moves through decades forging a life and career, living within miles of the family that won’t have her. When Alzheimer’s erases her mother’s grudge, their delicate reunion begins, unearthing a shocking secret kept from Picone since birth. Working against time, she chooses to become her mother’s caretaker and rebuild connections with her fractured family. Tesoro offers hope to anyone who seeks the transformative power to forgive or be forgiven for family love gone awry. It is a gripping testament to the human heart’s ability to mend.

440 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2014

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dear friend wrote this memoir; thus, this was a unique reading experience. It is beautifully written, never veering into maudlin descriptions, despite the subtitle “The Treasured Life of a Discarded Daughter.”

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in a day

Terrific read. She has more patience and forgiveness than I could ever hope to muster. What an evil mother, such a loving daughter. All the feelings.