The Scarlet Thread

An Englishwoman marries a Sicilian-American soldier during World War II and then vanishes from his life in this story of star-crossed love and deadly vendettas
 
They meet and fall in love in Palermo during World War II. She’s an English nurse, the daughter of a Sussex country doctor. He’s a wounded Sicilian-American soldier. When they marry, Angela Drummond is pregnant, but Steven Falconi will not be with her the day their son is born.
 
Believing Angela to be the tragic victim of a German bomb, Steven returns to New York to take his place as heir apparent of his Mafia family. But he never stops mourning the loss of his love, even when he marries Clara Fabrizzi in a practical union of dynasties. The pampered, wildly jealous daughter of a powerful don, Clara will let nothing stand in the way of her uncontrollable passion for her husband.
 
Then one day, Steven sees a ghost.
 
Reminiscent of the works of Mario Puzo, The Scarlet Thread journeys across three continents and two decades to tell a story about the terrible price of power and the incalculable cost of love.