From Silence to Saffron: How One Immigrant Found Home Through Flavor
For many immigrant children, the early years in a new country feel like being caught between languages, customs, and expectations too vast to explain. There’s the sting of being misunderstood, the ache of wanting to blend in while also needing to hold on. These stories—of bullying, exclusion, and the loss of familiar comforts—often remain tucked away, whispered only to those who truly listen.
In From Tuscany with Love, Lauretta Avina unpacks this quiet struggle with grace and clarity. Her memoir traces the unspoken grief and resilience of childhood immigration—from the bustling rhythms of an Italian village to the jarring newness of American classrooms. She writes with tender honesty about the identity confusion, the loneliness, and the silent strength it took to survive being seen as “other.”
But the book is not simply a story of hardship—it’s a tribute to reclamation.
In the second half, Avina turns to her roots, to the recipes carried across oceans, folded into memory by her mother and grandmother. Food becomes her language of belonging. Through risotto, biscotti, and handmade pasta, she reconnects with what had been buried: joy, legacy, and the possibility of being known not by her accent, but by her saffron.
Today, in the town she once felt alien to, she’s known as the quietly extraordinary Italian cook. Her meals aren’t just delicious—they’re redemptive. Each recipe is a memory made edible, a bridge between heritage and healing.
For every child who has ever struggled to explain where they’re from or who they are, From Tuscany with Love offers solace. It reminds us that even the deepest dislocation can lead to rootedness, if we honor the things that shaped us—like a grandmother’s soup, a mother’s spice rack, and the courage to cook our way home.
Inspired by the book, From Tuscany with Love, by Lauretta Avina, a #1 Amazon hot new release.
Book Description:
A Reviewer's Comment: "a cookbook that brought a tear to my eye"
I never had a cookbook that brought a tear to my eye, but this one did. [Lauretta's] story is simultaneously unique and universal. Different from yours or mine, but also the same. Reaching out through the delightful aroma of fresh baked biscotti, weaving in world history, sharing happiness and heartache, and tapping into the place that makes us human.
...Her voice comes through every word and every dish...The fact that you can cook and taste something real and delicious--something with deep attachment to her story--that is a wonderful way to touch someone's heart. As an honored recipient of some of the best biscotti this side of the Mediterranean, you must try at least a recipe or two (or all) and share her vivid stories when you sit down to eat.
- Gaird Schlesinger, Mighty Digital Group, Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Read more posts about Lauretta and her book HERE.
Read more recipe books HERE.
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Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to pay for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.
(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)Check out recent issues.
Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Turn your manuscript into a book!
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.
We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us?
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
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