The rise and fall of a powerful family through 900 years of Sicilian History and the unbearable burden it places on the last descendant... A coming of age story and a family saga, FEAR OF THE PAST raises the central issue of nature vs. nurture. Are we the products of our family's past? Can we escape our genetical inheritance?
Tony, a young American video game creator, suffers from burnout and goes searching for his family roots in Sicily. Walking in an abandoned building, he falls in a Time Trap where he meets the ghosts of his forebears - all historical characters who helped shape Sicily's History, including the Duchess of Floridia, a famous 18th century beauty who married the King of Naples.
In Part 1, FORGET THE PAST, Tony discovers he has more in common with an English adventurer who settled in Sicily in the 18th century than with his own father. He shares with him a star-crossed love for the beautiful Duchess of Floridia and worries he may be destined for failure in his own life, just as the Englishman was in his.
In Part 2, RECLAIM THE PRESENT, Tony has an unexpected and terrible accident that pulls him back to Sicily in the year 1908 when the family fortunes collapsed. Can he change destiny or is he trapped in the role of a helpless witness?
In Part 3, REMEMBER THE FUTURE, Tony tries to shed the past and make his life his own. With the help of a lovely Sicilian woman who looks like the Duchess but is very much a 21st century woman, independent and career-oriented, he creates an innovative social media network, the "Chat Club". Can he protect his creation and save the woman he loves from the Sicilian mafia and violent Russian hackers?
Will he manage to shed the Past and make his life his own?
When the early version of this book came out in Italian, it earned praise from literary critics in the main Sicilian journals (excerpts): Pino Nucifora in « Diario Siracusa »: “To dream with open eyes through Time …This well-written book is set in modern-day Sicily but travels through time.” Arturo Messina in « Libertà »: “It is a historical novel without being one…The story is told in a non-historical manner: emotional, but above all fantastic, surreal, meta-psychical, out of time and reality…” Lucia Corsale in « La Sicilia : “An authentic excursion in the past that enables the protagonist to ‘view’ certain historic events...”
When Fear of the Past was first published in 2011 in the form of e-books coming out as each part of the novel was finalized (starting in May with Book1: Forget the Past), it was reviewed by numerous readers, including writers. Here is a selection : …"A family saga spanning nine centuries is interwoven with a contemporary coming of age story with such skill that suspension of belief is without effort" (Author R.Lee Holz)…"The book is a bit Alice in Wonderland, a bit Dante's Inferno, and a lot about coming of age and self-discovery." (Author Joseph Badal)…"The stories were easy to visualize and I would love to see this book made into a movie" (Author Suzy Turner) … "Good read not only for teenagers but also more grown up people who are on a lookout for something different… (Author and Film Maker Magda Olchawska)
…"What I liked most is that this book is symbolic of universal emotions and human foibles, sometimes making them larger than life" (Author Karen Rose Smith)…"… This is more than a paranormal romance: it has a historical dimension that takes you into the spirit of the Sicilian soul... the best novel I read on Sicily since Tommasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard." (Giuseppe Bonanno)..."Are we products of the surroundings or of the past? This story takes nature v. nurture to the basic core of our existence." (Barbara Ell)..."This could be the Harry Potter of history for adults..." (P.Inez Erica Impie) ..."history and romance intertwined in a fantasy setting...this for me, is definitely one of my best reads. The story is unique, enjoyable, plus it’s well-written." (Yla Delarosa)
Tony, a young American video game creator, suffers from burnout and goes searching for his family roots in Sicily. Walking in an abandoned building, he falls in a Time Trap where he meets the ghosts of his forebears - all historical characters who helped shape Sicily's History, including the Duchess of Floridia, a famous 18th century beauty who married the King of Naples.
In Part 1, FORGET THE PAST, Tony discovers he has more in common with an English adventurer who settled in Sicily in the 18th century than with his own father. He shares with him a star-crossed love for the beautiful Duchess of Floridia and worries he may be destined for failure in his own life, just as the Englishman was in his.
In Part 2, RECLAIM THE PRESENT, Tony has an unexpected and terrible accident that pulls him back to Sicily in the year 1908 when the family fortunes collapsed. Can he change destiny or is he trapped in the role of a helpless witness?
In Part 3, REMEMBER THE FUTURE, Tony tries to shed the past and make his life his own. With the help of a lovely Sicilian woman who looks like the Duchess but is very much a 21st century woman, independent and career-oriented, he creates an innovative social media network, the "Chat Club". Can he protect his creation and save the woman he loves from the Sicilian mafia and violent Russian hackers?
Will he manage to shed the Past and make his life his own?
When the early version of this book came out in Italian, it earned praise from literary critics in the main Sicilian journals (excerpts): Pino Nucifora in « Diario Siracusa »: “To dream with open eyes through Time …This well-written book is set in modern-day Sicily but travels through time.” Arturo Messina in « Libertà »: “It is a historical novel without being one…The story is told in a non-historical manner: emotional, but above all fantastic, surreal, meta-psychical, out of time and reality…” Lucia Corsale in « La Sicilia : “An authentic excursion in the past that enables the protagonist to ‘view’ certain historic events...”
When Fear of the Past was first published in 2011 in the form of e-books coming out as each part of the novel was finalized (starting in May with Book1: Forget the Past), it was reviewed by numerous readers, including writers. Here is a selection : …"A family saga spanning nine centuries is interwoven with a contemporary coming of age story with such skill that suspension of belief is without effort" (Author R.Lee Holz)…"The book is a bit Alice in Wonderland, a bit Dante's Inferno, and a lot about coming of age and self-discovery." (Author Joseph Badal)…"The stories were easy to visualize and I would love to see this book made into a movie" (Author Suzy Turner) … "Good read not only for teenagers but also more grown up people who are on a lookout for something different… (Author and Film Maker Magda Olchawska)
…"What I liked most is that this book is symbolic of universal emotions and human foibles, sometimes making them larger than life" (Author Karen Rose Smith)…"… This is more than a paranormal romance: it has a historical dimension that takes you into the spirit of the Sicilian soul... the best novel I read on Sicily since Tommasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard." (Giuseppe Bonanno)..."Are we products of the surroundings or of the past? This story takes nature v. nurture to the basic core of our existence." (Barbara Ell)..."This could be the Harry Potter of history for adults..." (P.Inez Erica Impie) ..."history and romance intertwined in a fantasy setting...this for me, is definitely one of my best reads. The story is unique, enjoyable, plus it’s well-written." (Yla Delarosa)
