The Medal

Bethany Fitzpatrick is a recent graduate of a renowned culinary school with ambitions of becoming a pastry chef in Manhattan. But when Bethany's mother dies in a tragic accident, Bethany foregoes a perfect job to care for her father, who is stricken with multiple sclerosis. She moves back home to the seafaring town of Northport, Long Island, where she eventually opens a bakery, but running her own business and acting as sole caretaker for a dying man is no easy feat. Despite her enormous love for her father, she finds herself stuck in a world no one seems to understand-after all, her closest friends are married with children and enjoying life. Bethany begins to question her own life and her faith. As her father's condition worsens, Bethany is on the verge of a breakdown until a stranger named Jimmy enters her bakery. With the persona of an Italian mobster, he informs her of a mystical Italian friar, Padre Pio, who bore the five wounds of Christ and performed miracles. Despite his many gifts, Pio was shunned by the Catholic Church. Jimmy over time, gains Bethany's trust and gives her a medal containing a relic of Padre Pio, which just might give Bethany's father a second chance at life...and might bring Bethany back to a life worth truly living. Bethany's journey is one of discovery, love, acceptance, and faith. True historical accounts of the life of Padre Pio are woven throughout the book until its shocking end.