In 1900, Franca Raimondi lived a privileged life in Sicily. Franca puts aside her intellectual ambition and marries Edoardo Privitera, an American exporter. They marry and are blessed with a daughter, Giulia. In 1908, an earthquake buries their beloved child beneath the rubble. Miraculously, Franca and Edoardo rescue her, but the pain and suffocation foreshadow things to come. Giulia, too, nurtures her intellect, but her ambitions are thwarted by Mussolini's March on Rome and the impassioned love of Alissandru Leone. Although they marry and add two children to the family, Alissandru's philandering ways drive a wedge between them. Seeking a better life, Franca, Giulia and their husbands move to the United States in the late 1920s, as the Great Depression rages. Again, their path to prosperity is impeded. As Alissandru's affairs and temper splint the family, Franca rescues her grandchildren. She's determined to oppose the forces of nature, love, and politics that have thus far divided their lives. Splintered Lives will invade your dreams and infuse your mind with romance gone adrift. Only the deep love of a grandmother can restore the family to splendor as she tells the children, "You come from intelligence and class; surely it must come through."