If there's anyone who understands what elements need to be in place to write an exceptional novel, it's Jo Piazza. She's the international best seller of The Knockoff, Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win, Marriage Vacation, and others. We Are Not Like Them, which she co-wrote with Christine Pride, was a GMA book club pick, selling more than 100,000 copies.

Her forthcoming novel, The Sicilian Inheritance, has all of those necessary elements and more. It's a story about Sicily, sure, but there's also love, murder, business failure, travel, historical fiction, food, motherhood, adventure, self discovery, and more food.

When Piazza sent me an advanced copy of this novel, based on her own family history in the region, I assumed it would be a fun, enjoyable read. Which it was. What I did not expect was that it would also be an incredibly insightful book on business leadership.

My own non-fiction book about how business leaders work through setbacks comes out this spring, around the same time as The Sicilian Inheritance, and the similarities between this fictional tale and the real-world stories shared in The Setback Cycle are astonishing. While The Sicilian Inheritance may be fiction, it is a masterclass in working through setbacks, demonstrating how the most underestimated, overlooked and marginalized groups can overcome obstacles and defy the odds to find success.

Here are three main takeaways from the novel that can help any woman trying to navigate a setback in her business, career, or life.

1 - Women frequently underestimate their own strength.

The characters in Piazza's novel are delightfully ahead of their time. The book toggles between two stories: Sara, who works as a modern day butcher and restaurant owner in Philadelphia and that of her great grandmother, Serafina, who slowly becomes the doctor of the Sicilian village she lives in.

Despite all her hard work to heal an area plagued by early 20th century diseases, Serafina won't dare call herself a doctor, or even a healer, as Women were not permitted to do work beyond the home in Sicilian villages in the early 1900's.

Meanwhile, more than 100 years later, Sara is working in an industry that is incredibly male-dominated. Only 25% of butchers are women. Yet she, too, defies the odds, finds success, and even attracts a group of investors to fund her lifelong dream - the opening of her own restaurant.

The parallel stories of these two women chasing their ambition despite societal and marital pressure to retreat to their homes speaks to the undeniable, and often underestimated, internal strength and resilience that most women possess.

2 - Don't let the mistakes of the past dictate future decisions.

Sara, dazzled by this food industry dream fulfilled, accepts the offer from her investors. Soon, she's pressured into making decisions she isn't comfortable with in favor of squeezing a profit. She also hilariously criticizes the notion of brunch, a pain point for many restaurant owners. When she inevitably fails to turn enough of a profit, her restaurant is forced to shut down, sending her into a spiral of self-doubt and an identity crisis – one that she works through during her trip to Sicily.

Her story is reminiscent of chef Palak Patel and other restaurant owners who weathered the last few years, from pandemic shut downs to difficulties hiring and retaining service industry staff.

Like many of them, Sara works through her setback to find her own creative rebirth, which comes from a very unexpected place. Readers get to follow along her journey as she regains her confidence and redefines what a successful future might look like after the shattering of her restaurant, her marriage and the understanding she previously had around her own family history.

3 - Communities are critical to success - and survival

The core theme of the book is that women have always formed supportive communities rooted in the foundation of helping other women. In her Philadelphia life, Sara lacks community and friendship, while Serafina is surrounded by a strong network of women. At the turn of the century, most of the men in Sicily had gone elsewhere to seek work, leaving many rural villages, like the fictional one Serafina lives in, predominantly inhabited by women. The community thrives as the women take on roles as bakers, accountants, and in Serafina's case, healers.

Sara also struggles with the balance of work and motherhood, as does Serafina, whose dreams of furthering her education are crushed when she gets pregnant as a teenager and is forced to get married at a young age. Serafina isn't shy about sharing her bigger dreams with her community - she is wildly ahead of her time and unapologetic about it, reminiscent of Elizabeth Zott, the main character in Lessons in Chemistry.

Serafina's dreams are juxtaposed with her best friend, Cettina, whose dreams have always been about motherhood. So of course, Cettina struggles with infertility. She eventually becomes a mother in an unexpected way while frequently caring for Serafina's children while Serafina is tending to the sick and injured folks in the village. Community and support is what enables these women to fulfill their ambitions despite the restrictions society (and biology) impose on them.

Another underlying theme of the book, and something Sara discovers on her Sicilian adventure, is the discovery of various stories about women who made significant contributions to society, yet weren't given the credit they deserved. Peppered throughout this adventure is an unexpected lesson in Italian history and mythology. It's a celebration of women who were underestimated and prevented from reaching their full potential - not unlike the women profiled in this very column, who are often overlooked as they build successful businesses and ventures that shape society for the better.

The Sicilian Inheritance is a thrilling adventure throughout a beautiful landscape that tells the stories of two women who persevered despite the many factors working against them. It's enjoyable, satisfying, but also motivating. It might just inspire more underestimated women to make bold moves, defy the odds and redefine success on their own terms.