The author, Maxene Raices of ‘The Land of Sunshine and Hell’ visited Blackwell Manor Book Club for the book discussion. She had the most successful turnout rate over there to discuss her inspirational memoir! The story of the book is really moving which took place at the time of Vietnam War in 1964. It was the time when things were heating up and young men were drafted for war in chunks. Sex was not discussed normally at that time and it was the period of high morality, anti-war protests and the sounds of rebellion. Maxene is a high school student who had an Italian- American boyfriend, Romolo who is a pre-med student at Columbia University. She discovers that she is pregnant and this begins a difficult journey for her to hide the truth and her decision to give up her child for adoption. She marries Romolo four years later when he is assigned to Germany where they relief their pains with the evening in a marijuana-induced haze. Both of them try to move forward in life without realizing the pain of giving up their child. The author, Maxene Dell Raices has a Master of Education degree in Adult Communication from the University of Toronto and a B.A English with a minor in Education from the State University of New York. She has worked as a teacher, HR manager and Senior Account Executive for several firms. She is currently residing in Alpharetta, GA with her husband.