Giovanni’s War was finished. An historical novel set in the 19th century in my beloved Italy., it is complete at 101,000 edited words. The story follows a young man’s quest for love, glory, and meaning during the final, traumatic struggle for Italian independence. Giovanni struggles on many fronts — to create his nation, avoid obvious sabotage, make Mama happy, and find his place, however misguided. He wants to help Italy’s struggle to emerge as a secular country, birthing itself from the fluid womb of the Catholic church.
La bel Italia is seen from a villager’s view, a peasant’s perspective — the conflicts between secular and spiritual authority and the temporal majesty of the ancient Catholic Church severs families and divides towns into wounded factions.
The fictional family became engaging to me, and its secrets and ongoing storylines developed into two family-connected novels set in other eras.
Olivia is a true immigrant’s daughter, straddling two cultures. In the early decades of the 20th century, she is eager to join the battle for both her country and her independence in the small hours before World War 1 and 20th-century suffrage change the landscape for all.
Death, Love, and Ghosts follows the family generationally, in 1980s Chicago, connecting to Northern Italy with a breathless search for medical matches for a dying child.
I leave some excerpts here for anyone who would like to follow my work as it develops. I encourage you to share your thoughts, always.
Observational essays and small articles are published in the Drafts and Blogworthy category (under Scrivenings). They are small insights, thoughts, all my own, and usually opinionated. If you click on “Projects” you can see what is there.
I like to travel-to understand new places through the lens of the written word, and you are welcome to view any past, basically unedited spontaneous blog-work.
Please enjoy and feel free to drop me a comment or email and let me know your thoughts. I am honored by any time you are willing to spend and thank you for your attention.
Judith