"The truth is I was glad he was dead... I wanted to celebrate his death..." Her father's death proves the trigger for Francesca Tomasi, the first-born daughter of a Sicilian immigrant family living in Australia, to relive events she never should have witnessed. At the tender age of twelve, Francesca is brought face to face with an ugly reality that forces her to bury secrets and wrestle with choices no one should ever have to make. Her struggle becomes one of survival as she defies attempts to silence her. Trapped in a psychological web of fear, jealousy and deceit, Francesca learns that what she needs most is also her greatest threat. Fly, Francesca, Fly is the story of one woman's struggle to free herself from the shackles of culture and history imposed on her by her Sicilian parents and extended family. When her father dies, a middle aged Australian-born woman of Sicilian parents writes a letter to her mother expressing her thoughts and feelings about events that took place in the family, in order to arrive at some internal peace. Unable to trust anyone, she describes how she struggled to survive on her own through PTSD, anxiety, depression, addiction, and suicidal tendencies.