Ships March 26, 2024
A Love Story of Italian Immigration, From Brooklyn to Sicily to Tunisia, From the Great War to the Great Depression
My Dear Antonio is inspired by the love story of Byrnes’ great-grandparents— children of the Sicilian diaspora separated from their families on the Mediterranean coast who loved, parted, and found each other again seven years and three continents later.
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This fictional imagining of a documented family history is pure literary alchemy. Ryan Barnes personalizes the desperate poverty that drove his great-grandparents to emigrate to America along with so many others, as well as the omnipresent menaces of disease, financial collapse, and political corruption woven into the fabric of early 20th century life. Impeccably researched as well as heartfelt and captivating, this is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and true-life love stories alike.
—Erica Obey, author of The Brooklyn North Murders