The Face Behind the Veil

Unfolding in old New York, The Face Behind The Veil contains three overlapping sections: Naomi's Story, Rebecca's Story and Enter Teresa.

Like curtains in a majestic, old movie theater, the curtains of this generational saga begin to part as Naomi is born with the mysterious birth veil over her face.  To some this was a sign of a prophet.  To others it was merely part of the amniotic sac.  And what connection was there with the otherworldly visitor that the child would later meet?

Naomi's mother believed her daughter would understand great mysteries.  Indeed--and she would do so against the backdrop of unfolding history.  The Great Depression would bring poverty, hobos and even the Grim Reaper to her family's door.  World War II would see love lost and love found.

Naomi's daughter, Rebecca, inherits not only her mother's physical DNA, but her spiritual DNA as well.  Her penetrating green eyes seem to look through walls and into hearts.  She names her daughter Teresa, after the ancient mystic, Saint Teresa of Avila.  Like her namesake, Teresa walks a beautiful but treacherous path.

This brings the story to modern times and a Victorian mansion where past meets present, good confronts evil and the mystery of the veil is revealed.

On Staten Island, New York, Flora Reigada spent happy childhood years in a Victorian home her grandfather restored from ruin.

"Through my book, readers can visit those elegant old rooms and feel the warmth of the fireplace," Flora says.  "An important setting in the story is patterned after the old house."

Today, Flora is an award-winning writer and newspaper columnist for her city's newspaper the Star-Advocate.  A mother of three and grandmother of two, she lives on Florida's exciting Space Coast, with her husband, grown son and spoiled pet cat.  From their backyard, the family can watch space shuttles blast off from the nearby Kennedy Space Center.

Aside from writing, Flora enjoys reading, doing water aerobics and taking walks along a path shaded by Florida's majestic oaks.

Labor pains sliced into Estelle's abdomen as she awakened that March dawn in 1925.  The buxom blonde's husband, Jacob, rushed into the cold mist to awaken her brother who lived nearby.  The two men quickly returned.  Franz, the only person the couple knew who owned a car, had agreed to drive Estelle to the hospital.  Even in her pain, Estelle noticed the stench of the previous night's bootleg whiskey on her brother's breath.  It added nausea to her discomfort.  The pains stabbed deeper and harder as the young woman clutched Franz's arm and waddled into the morning chill.

Glancing over her shoulder, Estelle managed a feeble wave to Jacob, who watched from the window.  He remained behind to care for the couple's two sleeping toddlers.  A nervous Franz helped his swollen sister into the passenger seat of the Model T Ford.  As it chugged along, each bump seemed to jostle the baby farther down the birth canal ... making the woman feel as if she were being ripped apart.

Soon, the twenty-something blonde was at the hospital with her cries echoing down the corridors.  At last, the gray haired, mustached doctor wrested the baby from her body.  Estelle felt her flesh tearing as the newborn emerged.

"It's a girl!" the doctor announced, lifting a membrane from the baby's face.

The attending nurse stopped short, her eyes wide.  "Why are you just tossing that aside?  Don't you know what it means?  It's the rare birth veil ... the sign of a prophet!"

"Nonsense," the doctor chuckled, holding up the wailing infant for Estelle to see.  "It's just part of the amniotic sac."

Despite her pain and blood loss, Estelle gazed at her daughter in awe.  As a child, she overheard old women discussing "the veil."  One cackled that her father, a Navy captain during the War Between the States, had carried a veil aboard his ship.

"They're supposed to bring good luck," the stoop-shouldered woman said, clutching her cane.  "Those born with the veil are gifted with second sight into the spiritual world."

At the time, Estelle believed that.  Now it was like a prophecy fulfilled in her own daughter.  Indeed, this baby would see wonders and understand great mysteries.