Everything We Thought Was True

A Novel

By: Lisa Montanaro

Narrated by: Annalee Scott

Los Angeles lawyer Lena Antinori has dedicated her career to fighting discrimination, including for the LGBTQ community, but her own family's secret haunts her. At thirteen years old, she made the startling discovery that her father, Frank, was gay and her mother, Teresa, knew. Fearing social stigma, Teresa instituted a code of silence meant to protect their Italian Catholic family—a code Lena adhered to for decades.

Now, Frank plans to marry his partner, and he wants Lena to help plan the wedding. Lena is torn between maintaining loyalty to her mother and supporting her father's newfound happiness. As her father's wedding approaches, Lena learns her childhood wounds run deeper than she thought, and failing to heal them might sentence her to a life of hypocrisy and the inability to discover the true meaning of coming out.

Told by Lena in the present, and her parents in the past, Everything We Thought Was True examines how the truth doesn't set you free until you embrace it.

©2025 Lisa Montanaro (P)2025 Tantor Media

WOW, what a debut!

I adored this story!

The care taken with the characters was amazing. I felt like they could be friends of mine.

The premis is so amazing and so relevant. I love that the story captured the love and hurt, and healing of the characters.

I am so appreciative of the care that was taken with the subject matter. I think it brought to the forefront something we as a society have ignored/purposely put aside. The emotions and experiences of those who have been forced to live a double life because of the lag of understanding from society.

as I said I adored the story and the presentation. can't wait for more from Lisa Montanaro!!!

Emotional, Heartwarming, and Deeply Personal

I loved this book. It was emotional, heartwarming, and deeply personal for me. As a white woman married to an African American man, I know what it’s like to be in a relationship that some people see as wrong. I couldn’t imagine being told I couldn’t be with—or marry—the person I love.

I listened to the audio version, and Annalee Scott did an amazing job of bringing the story to life. Her narration added so much depth and emotion—I felt every moment.

This book explores family, truth, and the pain that silence can cause. I resonated with all the characters in some way, and their journey toward healing and authenticity was powerful. If you’re looking for a meaningful LGBTQ read for Pride Month—or any month—I highly recommend this one.

Broader than just the LGBTQ community - I felt moved because the themes were universal

I'm a straight white guy, and sure, this is a book about the difficulty in being gay and coming out in the 70s and 80s, and the effects that doing so had on family life of that era. But it's about so much more than that. It's about love and loss, it's about fathers and daughters, it's about pain and forgiveness and redemption, it's about overcoming fears and prejudices, and living your life honestly and fully, and in the end being true to yourself.

And aren't those all universally applicable themes? They certainly are to me. I am currently estranged from my daughter, and after reading this, I feel there's hope for our getting back together and being close again. I highly recommend this book.

family secrets

This book is about family secrets and the ripple effects of those secrets. it is wonderfully written and really struck a chord with me. It is much more than just a story about a gay dad.

Captivating, brilliant, and heartbreakingly beautiful!

Compelling characters with depth and heart, telling a group of stories that shares how complex a “coming out” story really truly is … not just for the LGBTQ person but for their entire web of family.

Brought tears to my eyes, and by the end I binged the final hours because I didn’t want to stop.