It is 1986 and Rita McEachern's routine life is about to change-drastically. Eighteen years of being a stay-at-home wife and mother have turned her into a borderline agoraphobic, afraid to venture more than a few blocks from her home. If she is stuck in an emotionally abusive and loveless marriage, she is not aware of it, devoting all her attention to domesticity and her four children. Culturally, she and her husband are wildly diverse, she the daughter of immigrants to Toronto, Canada from a poverty-stricken Sicilian village, her husband's Scottish family having established themselves generations earlier. An unexpected confrontation with Valentin, a ruggedly handsome Spanish immigrant from Barcelona, shakes up her life both physically and emotionally. Although twelve years younger than Rita, he is intrigued by her innocence and naivete. Unable to resist his enthusiastic overtures, Rita falls passionately in love with him, sending her on a spiraling road to destruction, forcing her to make some hard decisions in order to save herself and her children.

JoAnn Catania was born in Sicily and immigrated to Canada at the age of seven. A former freelance journalist, her works of fiction focus on themes involving average Sicilians from humble backgrounds struggling to succeed in their adopted country. She has a Modern Languages degree from the University of Toronto and a Journalism degree from Ryerson University. She is a mother of three and grandmother of seven. JoAnn is currently living the country life in Meaford, Ontario. A Scarcity of Virgins is her first novel.

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