"But you made Victoria. You made her beautiful. Is it a sin to be attracted to beauty? My head is spinning."
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The Temptation of Father Lorenzo by Paul Salsini iUniverse
book review by John E. Roper
Readers are often drawn to the latest thriller, mystery, or steamy romance novel to hit the shelves, but often the temptations, love, and angst of the lives of ordinary people can be just as poignant and satisfying when chronicled by an accomplished writer. Bestselling author Jan Karon's Mitford books are just one example of the appeal of this type of fiction. Salsini's latest volume about the individuals he first portrayed in his A Tuscan Trilogy is a more-than-worthy addition to the genre.
While the original trilogy was made up of novels spanning the three decades from the war years of the 1940s to the cultural changes of the 1960s in Northern Italy, Salsini's newest work is a collection of ten stories that resemble short novellas in structure. Set at times in Florence and at others in the village of Santa Antonio, the tales are sequential slices out of the lives of a small circle of family and friends that leave the reader feeling as though he has somehow stumbled upon a particularly compelling work of personal history. Much of this atmosphere is undoubtedly due to the information the author gathered from the many interviews he conducted with regional residents, including his own cousin, when researching the award-winning first book in the trilogy, The Cielo.
Salsini's skill as a writer is evident throughout the book but truly shines in "Butterfly," which pulls the reader into the mind of an Alzheimer's victim. His ability to effectively tackle topics that almost anyone can relate to makes his book of ordinary lives truly extraordinary.