I wrote
Long Way Home well before the release of the blockbuster movie
Titanic, to which it has since, inevitably, been compared. In fact, the original draft of this manuscript was set in 1912 and the Titanic was one of the shipboard settings in the novel. My editor nixed the idea--ironically because she felt
Titanic had already been "overdone"!
The story was inspired by a 1997 visit to Ellis Island, where I was entranced by the knowledge that all eight of my great-grandparents had come through immigration there around the turn of the century, as had several of my husband's grandparents. All of my ancestors had left most of their family behind in Italy, bravely sailing--often alone--to a new world. Their sole purpose was to make better lives for themselves--and ultimately, for their children, grandchildren, and generations to come. Struck by the realization that their sacrifices had shaped the life I have lived, I felt that I owed them some kind of tribute. The book was originally dedicated in memory of my eight great grandparents, whom I will name here: Onorato Corsi, Philomena Rossi Corsi, Antonio Piazza, Anna Morreale Piazza, Liborio "Leo" Ricotta, Frances Valentine Ricotta, Vincenzo Tampio, Domenica Lazarony Tampio.
However, I changed the dedication to the following just before it went to print:
Dedicated in loving memory of Pasquale Corsi and to my husband, Mark, and our sons, Morgan and Brody My grandfather, Pasquale Corsi, was a prolific story-teller. After finishing a big plate of spaghetti on Sunday afternoons, he would lean back, light a cigarette, and pour himself a glass of wine. Then, with all of us gathered around him, he would sip and smoke and talk--about people he had known, and places he had been. He had a growl of a voice, and a quirky way of phrasing things. He persisted in calling grapes by the singular: grape; calling the Thanksgiving turkey the bird...and always, always, he called me doll, and his numero uno (his firstborn grandchild). I'll never see my grandfather's brown eyes twinkling at me, or hear him say "hi, doll," again. He died on November 17, 1998, and the loss is still fresh as I write this.
Long Way Home is based on the true tale he often told about his sister, Loretta. Like Cirra, she was heartsick over leaving her sweetheart behind in Italy. Like Cirra, she was turned away at Ellis Island because the immigration officials suspected trachoma. And like Cirra, Loretta was finally admitted to the United States. But her story has a tragic ending. Not long after arriving in America, she fell victim to the Spanish Influenza epidemic. Loretta Corsi died at the age of nineteen. Her memory, and my grandfather's legacy, will live on. Like him, I am a story-teller. Ti amo, Grandpa
One last note for romance readers: I also write contemporary romances under the pseudonym Wendy Morgan for Zebra's Bouquet line. My latest, Loving Max, will be released in October, 1999.
