Books like The Patron Saint of ugly by Marie Manilla

Garnet Ferrari, born in Sweetwater, West Virginia, carries a striking coat of scarlet hair and a mottled map of the world in port‑wine stains across her skin. Living as an outcast, she has used her sharp tongue to fend off bullies, yet she finds herself blindsided by a gathering of pilgrims who have erected a tent city at her hilltop home, convinced she is their saintly healer of skin ailments. Her grandmother, Nonna Diamante, insists that Garnet’s uncanny abilities stem from the family’s Sicilian roots in the Nebrodi Mountains. With the Vatican’s emissary now in town, Garnet is driven to disprove the miracles she has never claimed and to send the desperate pilgrims packing. In seeking proof, she delves into her tangled lineage, uncovering stories of love triangles along the Messina Strait, a gilded‑cage existence in blue‑blood Virginia, and the orphaned angelic boy she failed to protect. Through this journey, Garnet learns that the line between reality and myth is perpetually blurred, and the parts of herself she most ashamed of can become her greatest strength and, perhaps, her salvation.

First publish date: 2014