My author journey started with an interest in the story of my Sicilian grandparents, my Nonna and Nonno, who were separated during World War II but found their way back to one another. I wrote about it as a student in Los Angeles's popular Writing Studio class, where teacher Elana Golden encouraged me to pursue novel writing.
Nonna was about seventeen years old when she and her family moved from Porticello, Sicily, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the late 1930s. They sailed aboard the legendary Rex, which appears in Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning Amarcord.
Once settled in Wisconsin, Nonna worked as a seamstress at a garment factory called Junior House. During the war, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the War Production Board, which converted factories of peacetime industries into manufacturing plants for military equipment. And Nonna and her fellow Junior House seamstresses transitioned to sewing parachutes.
My Nonno, the son of a tabaccheria owner, remained in Sicily until Italy joined the war on June 10, 1940. As a soldier in the Italian Army, he was stationed in Cagliari, Sardinia, the site of a series of Allied bombings. In later years, he said little about his military involvement but asserted that his loyalty was to King Victor Emmanuel III.
I found their stories fascinating, particularly the fact that their love could survive the time and distance apart. As I continued writing, the story evolved. It was no longer about Concetta and Gaetano Agnello but instead about two fictional characters named Concetta Balistreri and Gaetano Alioto. Now, it is set to debut as a historical novel in January 2025. I hope that my story will shed light on the Sicilian experience during World War II, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
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