Geri Livelli

The Cameo Geri Livelli

The inheritance of an antique cameo brooch, the discovery of her great grandmother's memoirs, and a time-capsule filled with antique furnishings all conspire to change Grace Winthrop's life. Haunting secrets and a bittersweet love story were destined to spend eternity inside the memoirs. Grace breathes life back into them with her book, "The Cameo."

In 1882, Grace's great grandmother Sofia Stewart began chronicling her life and love for Billy Ryan. Love flourished in the beautiful Hudson Valley, but their plans to marry were abruptly interrupted. Circumstance enters to keep their lives entwined.

Hudson Valley was home to the brickmaking industry and the immigrants who labored there. There were contrasts: great wealth, abject poverty, Saratoga horse racing, child labor, the Women's Suffrage Movement, and social mores to cover all that was offensive. World War I took the world by surprise, ushering in a time of sorrow and change. The human spirit survives while the ever present cameo symbolizes the love between Sofia and Billy.