In Via Roma, Mary Melfi's protagonist Sophie Wolfe experiences passionate, singular love, horrific loss, a journey to the Otherworld to meet one last time her departed lover, and finally happiness with the man who has stood by her. Intensely erotic, outspoken, earthy, without being clinically pornographic or gushy, the novel is a metaphysical exploration of love, suspense, suffering and redemption.

Mary Melfi was born in a small mountain town south of Rome. In 1957, at the age of six, she immigrated with her family to Montreal, Quebec where she attended local English schools. She received a B.A. in English Literature from Concordia University and a Masters of Library Science from McGill University. Since completing her studies in 1977 she has published over a dozen books of critically-acclaimed poetry and prose. Her first novel, Infertility Rites, was published by Guernica Editions in 1991; it was later translated into French and Italian. Doubleday Canada published her children's fantasy book: Ubu, the Witch Who Would be Rich. In 2009, the author's memoir, ITALY REVISITED: Conversations with My Mother, was published in Canada. In 2012 it was translated into Italian by Laura Ferri and published by Iannone Editions under the title, Ritorno in Italia, conversazioni con mia madre. Also a playwright, Mary Melfi's works for the theatre have been workshopped in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Her two full-length plays, both comedies, Foreplay and My Italian Wife were published by Guernica Editions in 2012. Noted for her black humour, wry wit and imaginative style, critics have suggested that this author manages "not only to make us laugh, but also think." She received the Giornata Internazionale Della Donna Award in 2010. In-depth reviews of her published works can be found in William Anselmi's book entitled: Mary Melfi, Essays on her Works (Guernica Editions, 2007). Mary Melfi presently lives in Montreal.

Mary Melfi's profile page

Melfi has taken on an important issue for women and, for the most part, handles it with flair ... The adorably whiny and angst-ridden Nina is a wonderful creation.

Toronto Globe and Mail

Despite its serious subject matter, Via Roma, is fun to read. The voice is original, the novel full of witty one-liners and quirky insights.

The Ottawa Review of Books

Italy Revisited, Guernica Editions: Mary Melfi explores a mother-daughter dialogue that gives life to the mother's memories of mid-century southern Italy while also revealing truths about relationships that sometimes exist between immigrant mothers and their children.

Concordia University Magazine

Via Roma is an ambitious, encyclopedic, multi-levelled text. It’s peppered with references to large chunks of Western and non-Western culture…. Via Roma interweaves high and low subject matters, the sublime and the demotic, the dream and the fairy-tale-like with the news clip, the poetic turn of phrase with the graphic sexual detail, the refined or erudite locution with the everyday colloquialism…. An extremely rich, engrossing read, with all of Melfi’s witticism, irony and other signature quirks…. a literary milestone.”

Dr. Francesco Loriggio, Italian Canadiana Vol. 32, 2018