Everything We Thought Was True

Los Angeles lawyer Lena Antinori has dedicated her career to fighting discrimination, including for the LGBTQ community, but her own family’s secret haunts her. At thirteen years old, she made the startling discovery that her father, Frank, was gay and her mother, Teresa, knew. Fearing social stigma, Teresa instituted a code of silence meant to protect their Italian Catholic family—a code Lena adhered to for decades.

Now, Frank plans to marry his partner, and he wants Lena to help plan the wedding. Lena is torn between maintaining loyalty to her mother and supporting her father’s newfound happiness. As her father’s wedding approaches, Lena learns her childhood wounds run deeper than she thought, and failing to heal them might sentence her to a life of hypocrisy and the inability to discover the true meaning of coming out.

Told by Lena in the present, and her parents in the past, Everything We Thought Was True examines how the truth doesn’t set you free until you embrace it.

Categories: , , Product ID: 6706

Description

ISBN-13: 978-1-958231-59-3

Publication Date: January 27, 2025

 

About the Author

Lisa Montanaro has a unique background, having traveled the path of a performer who didn’t want to be a “starving actress.” After saying no to Broadway, she worked as an instructor of high school deaf students to put herself through law school and practiced employment law for a decade. She then defected from her legal career and started her productivity consulting business on the heels of the September 11 tragedy.

Lisa has been keeping a journal, by longhand, since she was eight years old. She is the author of countless nonfiction articles and blog posts. She has served as webinar host for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) since 2019 and as a passionate member of its Diversity and Inclusion committee since 2018. Lisa is also a facilitator of the Retro COLAGE group, which is made up of mature-aged adult children of LGBTQ parents. She is the proud daughter of a gay father.

A native New Yorker, Lisa has called California home since 2012. There, she savors life with her veterinarian husband and their spoiled rescue mutts. In addition to being a writer, Lisa is a community theater geek, avid cyclist, world traveler, dedicated gardener, and wine lover.

Visit Lisa’s Author Page