Vatican Daughter

Vatican Daughter is a novel steeped in Italian culture, unafraid to confront Vatican corruption, and infused with suspense, thrills, and historical facts.

Set in Rome and Venice - with a brief stop in Magallanes, Chile, and New York City - Vatican Daughter propels the reader deep into the heart of Italy. Ensnared by its vivid descriptive language, you will be transported and immersed in this plausible, suspenseful story as it takes you through various cities, tasting their foods along the way, with different characters. At the same time, you will meander along the medieval palazzos of Rome and Venice, sip the wine, explore the countryside, ride the train, step behind the walls of Vatican City and its papal gardens, and imagine experiencing the loss of a child at the hands of men who would go to any means to avoid the exposure of Vatican corruption, papal indiscretion, and the Vatican’s long-buried secrets. A story of a young woman who relentlessly searches for her child while coming head-to-head with the most powerful entity on earth, Vatican Daughter focuses on serious female-centric issues and the Vatican’s controversial, scandalous, and hypocritical behaviors.

Joni Marie Iraci holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. She returned to college as an adult after raising three children. She earned a BA at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and while she was older than the students on campus, she found they sought her out as a writing tool due to her expertise on life and medical issues ( she’s a retired Registered Nurse) and they instructed her on technology. She’s now mastered the latter. She’s a published author. Her first novel, “Reinventing Jenna Rose,” was published in 2019 by the small press, Fat Dog Books, Inc. It is currently published as a second edition by Left Coast Lit. She writes fiction, essays, and short stories. Her second novel, “Vatican Daughter,” is currently in production for publication. It is infused with historical facts. A third, “The Women of the 13th Rione,” is complete. Several short stories are published in online journals. A historical short piece is published in the literary journal, “Review Americana.” Joni has freelance experience tutoring college-bound high school seniors, helping them to perfect their essays and college applications. After spending several years in the company of younger classmates, Joni inadvertently found herself counseling many of those who were troubled as they were faced with issues around entering the world after years of schooling. As both an undergrad and graduate student, she read over 1200 pages a week; she studied, analyzed, and wrote thought pieces and reviews of both classical and current literature. She’s attended many writing workshops where she critiqued and edited fellow writer's creative pieces both fiction and non-fiction, most were 80,000 words or more. She was interviewed on the podcast, “Speak Up Talk Radio.” Post interview she was contacted by authors from around the world who asked her to read and critique their work. She’s conducted book talks at The Strand Bookstore in New York City, (available on Youtube.com,) Shakespeare & Company in New York City, a venue in North Carolina, the Rotary Club in Rye, New York, and at several private book club meetings. She worked briefly as an adjunct professor teaching English Composition to nursing students. She is currently working on a sequel to her first book and is dabbling in a young adult sci-fi novel.