The Black Stiletto by Raymond Benso

The Black Stiletto is a nice distraction with characters written in a manner that you develop empathy for them.  The main character is plodding through life with the frustrations of caring for a mother with Alzheimer disease when he is given a rare gift of her memoirs.  Through these diaries and mementos he learns about a life his mother had hidden from him.  The story flips from present day to the 1950's and how a young woman transforms herself out of misfortune.  266 pages hard cover.