My Dear Antonio - by Ryan Byrnes (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From Novelist Ryan Byrnes, Winner of the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards "Sweeping and deeply felt, if you love history and love, then Ryan Byrnes's My Dear Antonio is for you."--Kathleen Rooney, Bestselling Author of From Dust to Stardust "Ryan Byrnes's My Dear Antonio conveys the serpentine immigrant experience of two Italian Americans with warmth and authenticity."--Sophie Perinot, Award-Winning Author of Médici's Daughter "Pure literary alchemy...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, Award-Winning Author of The Brooklyn North Murder In 1912, after barely medicating herself against a near-fatal asthma attack, Sicilian emigrant Anna DiNicola reluctantly leaves her family's Brooklyn tenement to seek a cure in the balmy climate of Tunisia. She is one of the few American immigrants to return to the Old World. In Tunisia, she detests how her asthma renders her dependent on her aunt, so she works for independence by learning to weave traditional wedding shawls for the Sephardic Jewish community. However, her apprenticeship comes with an expectation that she will marry her mentor's son while her heart lies with someone else. Antonio Orlando, a Sicilian native, dreams of working in his father's barber shop. However, mafia shootings force his father to close the shop and emigrate to America, abandoning Antonio in the Old World. To avoid slavery under the mafia, Antonio moves in with his uncle, a barber in Tunisia. Antonio swears he will one day return to Sicily and rebuild his family's barber shop, hoping it will inspire his father to return. He befriends Anna during her regular haircuts and begins to wonder if home is not a place but rather a person. When he accepts a betrothal to his cousin that would enable him to return to Sicily, Antonio must choose between his duty to family and his heart.

Review Quotes

"This fictional imagining of a documented family history is pure literary alchemy. Ryan Barnes personalizes the desperate poverty that drove his 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

"[Royal Beauty Bright is] an engrossing, transporting, and eminently readable historical tale" --Debra Marquart, Pulitzer-nominated author of The Hunger Bone: Rock & Roll Stories

"[Royal Beauty Bright is] a brilliant, heartfelt tale that is truly a joy to read." --Jathan Fink of jathanandheather.com

About the Author

Ryan Byrnes was born on a nuclear missile base during an active tornado, an utterly tranquil debut that has no doubt mirrored his writing career. Ryan is the great-grandson of Sicilian immigrants, and he dreams to tell their globe-spanning story. His previous historical fiction novel Royal Beauty Bright won a gold medal in the 2020 IPBA. His work has been published in Italian America, Pembroke, December, Sixfold, and more. He has worked with three indie publishing companies and one literary agency, and he attended the New York University Summer Publishing Institute.