The Florios of Sicily: A Novel

by Stefania Auci, Edoardo Ballerini (Read by), Katherine Gregor (Translator)

Overview

Based on the true history of the uncrowned kings of Sicily: the story of a family, restless and ambitious, shrewd and determined to be richer and more powerful than anybody else. 

In this grand, sweeping epic inspired by the real lives of history-making titans, international best-selling author Stefania Auci brings to life the dark secrets, the loves and betrayals, and the cruel acts of revenge that marked the Florio family’s century of influence.

The Florios arrive in Sicily, with nothing but the clothes on their back after an earthquake destroys their hometown. Against all odds, the family begins anew despite the looming Napoleonic wars and devastating plagues. But when Vincenzo is spurned by his aristocratic lover, he vows to avenge his honor by becoming the wealthiest man in Italy. Sacrificing love and family, he strives to buy what cannot be his by birth. Not to be outdone by the men, the Florio women unapologetically demand their place outside the restraints of caring mothers, alluring lovers, or wounded wives. Giulia, though only a mistress, is fiercely intelligent and runs the empire from the shadows. Angelina, born a bastard, charts her own future against the wishes of her father.

In this epic yet intimate tale of power, passion, and revenge, the rise and fall of a family taps into the universal desire to become more than who we are born as.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094119366
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Stefania Auci, a Trapani-born special needs teacher currently living in Palermo, has been writing for literary blogs and on-line publications for a long time. She is the author of two popular women’s fiction novels for Harlequin Mondadori and of the historical novel Florence, published in 2015 byBaldini e Castoldi.

Edoardo Ballerini, an actor, director, film producer, and narrator, has won several Audie Awards for best narration, including for 2019’s Best Male Narrator of the Year. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019.

Editorial Reviews

Beautifully written, impossible to put down, the powerful Florios of Sicily are alive on every page. For lovers of historical fiction, Stefania Auci is a blessing, and she has written a family saga you will long remember.” — Peter Golden, author of Nothing Is Forgotten

“When I read it, I knew it was perfect.” — La Repubblica

"Auci focuses a panoramic lens on the Florio family's achievements while never losing sight of the smaller personal details of their (epic) lives."
— Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Beautifully written, impossible to put down, the powerful Florios of Sicily are alive on every page. For lovers of historical fiction, Stefania Auci is a blessing, and she has written a family saga you will long remember.

Peter Golden

When I read it, I knew it was perfect.

La Repubblica

2020-02-02
An earthquake in the autumn of 1799 forces the relocation of the real-life Florio family from a devastated Calabria to Palermo, Sicily, where seismic changes of another kind continue to occur within the renowned family—and their new homeland—over the course of three generations.

Siblings Paolo and Ignazio Florio struggle to grow their burgeoning spice business in their new home, facing cultural and financial obstacles before reaching a level of acceptance from their Sicilian neighbors. In addition to competition from local merchants, their efforts to expand their trade are confounded by the era of rising Napoleonic power. Matters are further complicated by the difficult relationship between Paolo and his unhappy wife, Giuseppina, who is angered by her powerlessness in the marriage and her forced relocation to Sicily. After Paolo’s death, the business grows and prospers under Ignazio’s guidance while Ignazio himself lives an existence constrained by his lifelong unrequited passion for his widowed sister-in-law. Ignazio guides his beloved nephew, Vincenzo, into the increasingly more successful family business, and it is under Vincenzo’s steely-eyed and unrelenting leadership that the enterprise expands beyond the spice trade into a hydra-headed entity dealing in sulfur, textiles, spices, insurance, Marsala wine, medicinal herbs, shipping, and banking. Vincenzo’s own complicated personal life—involving a long-term liaison with the mother of his children—recalls that of his parents. The broad scope of Auci's narrative encompasses the personal and professional difficulties endured by both women and men within the family while dealing with issues of class as well (the Florios were often derided as traders and shunned by the insular Sicilian nobility). A condensed course in Sicilian history and Italian unification is interspersed between chapters and serves to place the Florios’ struggles in historical context.

Auci focuses a panoramic lens on the Florio family's achievements while never losing sight of the smaller personal details of their (epic) lives.

Kirkus Reviews