The Mona Lisa of Salem Street Author:Jan Marino Following the untimely death of their parents, Nettie and John Peter have stuck together, putting up with years of haphazard caretaking by an assortment of relatives. So when they are sent off to Boston's North End to live with their paternal grandfather..having been told by Grandma Bessie that he has lots and lots of money.. Nettie is certa... more »in that this move will provide them with a real home. But Pa's house on Salem Street is upstairs from a funeral parlor, his furniture is old and shabby, and he speaks in Italian to their dead grandmother. And to the cat!
Despite all this, John Peter seems ready to call Salem Street their home. Nettie is not. Even though she finds herself warming up to Salem Street and its people, including the mysterious "Mona Lisa of Salem Street" who spends her days waiting and watching at the window; Nettie is afraid to let herself love Pa...afraid he will send her and John Peter back; afraid that their glamorous great-aunt Aleta's promise that they will become one not so big but very happy family will never come true.« less