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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.

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

 

 

Author Spotlight

About Ryan Byrnes

Ryan Byrnes was born in North Dakota on a nuclear missile base during a tornado. He grew up in a military family in various towns in Ohio and Illinois, and he graduated from Iowa State University in 2020 after studying engineering and English. He attended the NYU Summer Publishing Institute in 2023.

​His first historical fiction novel, Royal Beauty Bright, won a gold medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and was a finalist in the 2019 Foreword Reviews INDIE Awards. 

His short stories range from literary fiction to science fiction and have been published in December, Pembroke, Sixfold, Italian America, and more.

His second historical fiction novel, My Dear Antonio, is forthcoming in March 2024 and will tell the immigration story of his great grandparents.

Ryan originally worked as a technical writer drafting manuals for ATMs, construction vehicles, forestry vehicles, and smart home tech companies. Currently he lives in New York City, where he works as a book editor at Apress.

Go to Ryan’s website to find out more!

Lynne Hugo

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