Pelican State News

JEFFERSON, LA – Two local authors of Sicilian descent – Elisa Speranza and Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco – will talk about their new books at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 22, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.

This event is free and open to the public. There is no registration. 

The Italian Prisoner by Elisa Speranza

1943. New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas. Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents’ back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life.

Elisa M. Speranza is the granddaughter of Irish and Italian immigrants, raised Catholic, and educated by nuns. She's been a writer and book nerd all her life. Her first paid job was in the children's room of her town's public library, and she was a journalist early in her career before spending thirty-plus years in the water and critical infrastructure business. The Italian Prisoner is her first novel. A native Bostonian and die-hard Red Sox fan, Speranza moved to New Orleans in 2002.

Sicilian Melody by Vincent “Chip” LoCoco

World War II has ended, and Sicily lies in ruins. As money flows in from Italy, the black market becomes the lifeblood of the island's inhabitants. At the same time, with the defeat of Mussolini and fascism, an old nemesis re-emerges from the ashes - the Mafia. Exiled during Mussolini's dictatorship, the Mafia has returned to fight for control of the black market. The Allied forces, leading the rebuilding of Sicily, turn to the former Dons and install them as mayors of the cities, towns, and villages..Don Adriano Umbretto, a once powerful Don in charge of Castelvetrano, finds himself in power and desperately trying to solidify his control, while trying to keep his daughter, Francesca, safe.Meanwhile, the small, secluded village of Bellafortuna, for years unmolested [MPL1] by the Mafia, is in danger of succumbing to their power and control. Giuseppe Sanguinetti, the long-tenured leader of the village, is faced with the immense grief of losing his son during the War while using all of his strength to lead the village through its most dangerous contest to date.Chip LoCoco is an estate planning attorney in New Orleans 's first book was Tempesta's Dream - A Story of Love, Friendship and Opera. It was awarded the Pinnacle Award in Historical Fiction. His next novel, A Song for Bellafortuna, forms Book 1 of his Bellafortuna Series. That novel won the B.R.A.G Medallion Award in Historical Fiction and was named a short-list finalist in the William Faulkner Writing Competition. Book 2 of the Bellafortuna series is Saving the Music. It too has been listed as a Top Rated novel on Amazon and as a Bestseller in Italian Historical Fiction. It was selected as the Winner of the 2022 American Fiction Award in Historical Fiction. It was also named as a Finalist in the 2022 International Book Awards in the Historical Fiction Category and Best Fiction Cover Design.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

The Jefferson Parish Library system consists of 16 locations that stretch from the Lakeshore Branch on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain to the Grand Isle Branch just steps away from the Gulf of Mexico. The library system consists of two large regional libraries and seven branches on each side of the Mississippi River. The East Bank Regional Library (4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie) serves as library headquarters. The Jefferson Parish Library is the second largest system in the state of Louisiana. More than 200 employees work for the Jefferson Parish Library including librarians, administration and support staff. For more information, contact the library at (504) 838-1100 or www.jefferson.lib.la.us

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@JeffParishGov).

Original source can be found here.