This Magnificent Dappled Sea

Biro’s gripping if uneven debut novel (after the memoir Listening to Pain) brings together three disparate characters through a transcontinental bone marrow transplant. In the early 1990s, Luca Taviano, a rambunctious Catholic nine-year-old boy, is stricken with a virulent case of leukemia in a small Italian town. Meanwhile, Nina Vocelli, the nurse in charge of his care, is having a forbidden affair with her hospital’s oncologist, and Joseph Neiman, a Brooklyn rabbi, grapples with personal and professional doubts. All of their lives are transformed when an international donor database identifies Joseph as a bone marrow match for Luca. This raises questions for Luca’s adoptive grandmother, Letizia, who is surprised to learn of her grandson’s Ashkenazi DNA profile. After Letizia dies, Nina takes care of Luca and researches his Jewish family history. The author, who himself received a lifesaving bone marrow transplant, writes with veracity about medical care and explores the tension between Jews and Catholics in Italy during WWII. As the years pass, Luca bonds with Joseph on visits to New York, and Biro builds suspense over a long-held secret about Luca’s father, who died in a car accident. While the ending is lackluster and sentimental, there is plenty of heart and compassion. Biro’s ambitious dive into the mysteries of family origins will move readers. (Nov.)