The Book: 
The Choice is a story of love and loss and surviving the tough journey one must take in order to be true to ourselves.
A novel, set in a small town in Northeastern Ohio in 1986.
The Choice is about Mina Thomas, a nurse that has settled into her six-year marriage and successful nursing career. She and her police officer husband, Sean, love each other, are best friends and are on the verge of starting a family. Then Mina meets Regan Martin, a new nurse she is assigned to mentor at the nursing home where they work. As the two women become close friends, Mina struggles with desires she thought she had successfully buried years ago. Desires that now threaten to change her, Sean's and Regan's lives forever. The Choice positively depicts Mina's choice to risk everything to be true to herself and how she must deal with shedding one identity for another.
This book puts a respectable face on a situation that many people view as depraved and sometimes selfish. The Choice is targeted toward a gay and lesbian as well as a mainstream audience.
“AN EXTRAORDINARY NOVEL. . . . THE STORY COMPELS YOU TO FINISH.
You are swiftly drawn into Mina’s life-a caring geriatric nurse who after six years of marriage realizes she is attracted to women and is unable to deny it any longer. Mina falls in love with Regan causing her to leave her husband Sean. Ciletti guides the reader through this painful process with caring, humor and sensitivity—once introduced,
THE CHARACTERS BECOME REAL—THEIR FEELINGS AND CHALLENGES CAPTIVATE THROUGHOUT.”
—K.J. Satrum, Master of Arts, New York University, Retired–Executive
Director for Student Services, Youngstown State University.
“The novel’s gentle and unassuming prose makes it easy to identify with and care for every single character and their plight. There are no easy answers in this triangle with a twist, only the realization that we all must follow our path. At the heart of this extraordinary novel lies Mina’s inner journey towards acceptance of her sexual orientation, despite the cost involved to herself and the people she loves. While The Choice is first and foremost the story of a lesbian woman coming into her own, it is also
THE UNIVERSAL STORY OF A HUMAN BEING ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT HER OWN TRUE IDENTITY.”
—Helga Schier, PhD, Editor, WithPenAndPaper
The Author:
Maria V. Ciletti is a registered nurse currently working as a medical administrator and is the President and owner of MVC Medical Consultants in Niles, Ohio. Maria writes non-fiction medical articles, short stories and literary as well as gay/lesbian fiction.
The Choice, Maria's first novel, was recently purchased by Haworth Press/Harrington Park Press and made its publication debut in May 2007. She is currently working on a sequel, Clinical Distance.
Her nonfiction article, Vaccine's and Reimbursement: Physician Beware, was published in the August 2001 issue of the Ohio State Medical Association monthly publication Practice Essentials.
Maria lives in Niles, Ohio with her partner Rose.
Fictional Credits:
"The Things You Do For Love,"
