Genre Fiction
![Lisa Scottoline - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APC2GU.jpg)
Loyalty
#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline presents Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily.
Loyalty can save a soul-or destroy one.
Franco Fiorvanti is a handsome lemon grower toiling on the estate of a baron. He dreams of owning his own grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambition. Determined to secure a better future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the baron. But when the baron asks him to kidnap a little boy named Dante, Franco makes a decision that will change his life-and even the history of Sicily-forever.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer whose devotion to justice is tantamount to a calling. He's a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime in Palermo, a city riddled with graft. Gaetano sets out to find the boy and punish the kidnapper, but his mission leads him to a darker place than he had ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Mafalda Pancari is a new mother rejoicing at the birth of her daughter, Lucia, when disaster strikes. And Alfredo D'Antonio is a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jew. How the lives of these unforgettable characters collide makes Loyalty an epic tale of good versus evil, as the story twists and turns to its monumental showdown.
Readers will be transported to the dramatic and ruggedly beautiful island of Sicily, the jewel of the Mediterranean, where lush lemon groves and mouth-watering cuisine contrast with a turbulent history of colonization and corruption. Scottoline brings her decades of thriller writing to historical fiction, creating in Loyalty a singular novel that no reader will be able to put down.
Loyalty can save a soul-or destroy one.
Franco Fiorvanti is a handsome lemon grower toiling on the estate of a baron. He dreams of owning his own grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambition. Determined to secure a better future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the baron. But when the baron asks him to kidnap a little boy named Dante, Franco makes a decision that will change his life-and even the history of Sicily-forever.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer whose devotion to justice is tantamount to a calling. He's a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime in Palermo, a city riddled with graft. Gaetano sets out to find the boy and punish the kidnapper, but his mission leads him to a darker place than he had ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Mafalda Pancari is a new mother rejoicing at the birth of her daughter, Lucia, when disaster strikes. And Alfredo D'Antonio is a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jew. How the lives of these unforgettable characters collide makes Loyalty an epic tale of good versus evil, as the story twists and turns to its monumental showdown.
Readers will be transported to the dramatic and ruggedly beautiful island of Sicily, the jewel of the Mediterranean, where lush lemon groves and mouth-watering cuisine contrast with a turbulent history of colonization and corruption. Scottoline brings her decades of thriller writing to historical fiction, creating in Loyalty a singular novel that no reader will be able to put down.
Editorial Reviews
**One of Zibby Mag's Most Anticipated Books for 2023**
"A powerful, poignant exploration about the rise of the Mafia in Sicily, Lisa Scottoline's Loyalty is a gripping, compulsively readable tale of courage, loyalty, family secrets, and the price of honor. An unputdownable piece of historical fiction that puts Scottoline's talent for writing twisty plots and unforgettable characters on full display."
-Kristin Hannah, author of The Four Winds
"I haven't read a story set in Sicily that was this good since Giuseppe Di Lampedusa's amazing novel The Leopard. The reader knows when an author's heart is in their writing, and Lisa Scottoline's heart and soul is in Loyalty. Historical fiction, when it's good, is a time machine, carrying us back to a vanished world that we can inhabit for a while. Loyalty does that and more-it's a magic carpet ride that will transform us and stay with us. A beautifully written tale, wonderfully told by a master storyteller."
-Nelson DeMille, author of The Maze
"A gripping, up-all-night novel of power and vengeance in a violent and beautiful land. Loyalty finds Lisa Scottoline on new turf-and firing on all cylinders. Her versatility as a writer knows no bounds."
-Daniel Silva, author of Portrait of an Unknown Woman
"Nineteenth-century Sicily springs to vivid, unforgettable life in Loyalty, a passionate epic of the Mafia‘s origins among the fragrant lemon groves of Palermo. A kidnapped child confined to a madhouse, a castoff wife raising her daughter in the wild, an upright lawyer on a crusade for justice, and twin brothers determined to rise to power-their lives entwine across Lisa Scottoline's gorgeous tapestry of Sicilian history. An absolute feast for readers everywhere!"
-Kate Quinn, author of The Diamond Eye
"Tautly plotted, brimming with detail, Loyalty takes us through the streets of 19th-century Sicily to witness the birth of the modern Mafia. Scottoline fills her tale with a...
"A powerful, poignant exploration about the rise of the Mafia in Sicily, Lisa Scottoline's Loyalty is a gripping, compulsively readable tale of courage, loyalty, family secrets, and the price of honor. An unputdownable piece of historical fiction that puts Scottoline's talent for writing twisty plots and unforgettable characters on full display."
-Kristin Hannah, author of The Four Winds
"I haven't read a story set in Sicily that was this good since Giuseppe Di Lampedusa's amazing novel The Leopard. The reader knows when an author's heart is in their writing, and Lisa Scottoline's heart and soul is in Loyalty. Historical fiction, when it's good, is a time machine, carrying us back to a vanished world that we can inhabit for a while. Loyalty does that and more-it's a magic carpet ride that will transform us and stay with us. A beautifully written tale, wonderfully told by a master storyteller."
-Nelson DeMille, author of The Maze
"A gripping, up-all-night novel of power and vengeance in a violent and beautiful land. Loyalty finds Lisa Scottoline on new turf-and firing on all cylinders. Her versatility as a writer knows no bounds."
-Daniel Silva, author of Portrait of an Unknown Woman
"Nineteenth-century Sicily springs to vivid, unforgettable life in Loyalty, a passionate epic of the Mafia‘s origins among the fragrant lemon groves of Palermo. A kidnapped child confined to a madhouse, a castoff wife raising her daughter in the wild, an upright lawyer on a crusade for justice, and twin brothers determined to rise to power-their lives entwine across Lisa Scottoline's gorgeous tapestry of Sicilian history. An absolute feast for readers everywhere!"
-Kate Quinn, author of The Diamond Eye
"Tautly plotted, brimming with detail, Loyalty takes us through the streets of 19th-century Sicily to witness the birth of the modern Mafia. Scottoline fills her tale with a...
Readers Top Reviews
ShaylaJeannie Hol
With an unforgettable cast of characters, this masterpiece will keep you enthralled from the beginning to the exciting end!
Syd YoungShaylaJe
When you pick up a book about Sicily, you know you are getting Mafia, right? But there’s so many gems hidden in here and the author’s note is everything. HF writers are really tricky. I won’t spoil it about what’s real but it surprised me and I’m glad to know. And now another place I simply must travel to. Thanks Lisa! Audio is perfection.
Desirée Heltzel-B
I was sure I wouldn’t be a fan of this novel, but Lisa proved me wrong. I’ll be completely honest by saying I’m not a fan of time period/historical novels, especially ones dating back to the 1800’s. But, here’s the thing with “Loyalty”, it’s so much more than a historical novel. It’s the characters in this novel that pull it together. They are absolutely phenomenal. Lisa did such an excellent job keeping the dialogue flowing from chapter to chapter, leaving no second guessing for the reader where the novel was heading. What a true gem to read. You will not regret purchasing “Loyalty” and start reading it today.
mnmloveliDesirée
MAR ‘23 - 4 STARS DESCRIPTION: Franco Fiorvante is a handsome lemon-grower who has toiled for years on the estate of boss Baron Zito. Franco dreams of owning his own lemon grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambitions. Determined to secure a prosperous future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the Baron. But when Baron Zito asks him to arrange the kidnapping of a little boy, Franco crosses the point of no return, setting in motion the making of the world’s first Mafia family.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer, whose devotion for justice is a calling. Gaetano is a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime, since corruption riddles Palermo. Gaetano and the Beati Paoli set out to find the boy and bring him home, but for Gaetano, the mission turns to obsession. He risks everything to right the wrong and bring justice to his beloved city.
The kidnapped boy, Dante, grows up in a madhouse without even knowing his last name. He doubts his own sanity until he meets Lucia, a girl with a tragic past of her own. They fall in love, then set out to find Dante’s kidnapper and learn his true identity. REVIEW : I’ve read 12 books by this author most of which have received 4 stars, with After Anna and Keep Quiet getting 5 stars and Eternal (‘21) getting 2 stars (historical fiction which I knew in advance was not my cup of tea). Sale $13.98 using Kindle Rewards of $1.01 You know when the author gives you a list of characters at the beginning of the book, you better start paying attention. A handful of story threads that seem to have nothing to do with each other, but I’m sure they’ll connect somewhere down the line. Another historical fiction read; this one kept me hanging-on til the end. I was leaning towards 3 stars but pushed to 4 stars because I loved how the whole last 30% of the book really brought everything together with a very satisfying end. Don’t miss the “Author’s Note” to fully understand the truths in the story.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One
Palermo, Sicily
1810
It was the final night of the Festival of Saint Rosalia, and hundreds of people lined Via Toledo, cheering, praying, and singing hymns. Priests led the procession, holding tapers that glowed like halos in the darkness. Spectators looked up the street, craning their necks to see the ornate silver reliquary of the patron saint. The carabinieri faced that way, too, their plumed hats in a line, their horses shifting on polished hooves.
Only a bearded man looked away, down the street. Nobody noticed him in the shadows behind the crowd. He kept his eye on the wealthy families privileged to stand on the Quattro Canti, or Four Corners, which was the intersection of Palermo's two most important streets: Via Toledo, extending to the harbor, and Via Maqueda, bisecting the capital.
The procession moved down the street, and the crowd's fervor intensified, anticipating the reliquary. People kissed pictures of the young saint, held roses up to her, and cheered Viva Palermo è viva Santa Rosalia! Among the privileged on the Quattro Canti, the husbands surged forward to see better and the wives remained behind with the children.
The bearded man threaded his way to a little boy standing with his mother at the back of the Quattro Canti. He snuck up behind the boy and waited for the moment to pounce.
The saint's reliquary popped into view, and the crowd erupted in shouting, cheering, and weeping. The boy's mother burst into pious tears, and the bearded man made his move. He pulled a marionette from under his cloak and showed it to the boy. The boy reached for the marionette, and in one cruel motion, the man grabbed the boy and flung his cloak over him. The clamor of the crowd devoured the boy's startled cry. The marionette dropped to the cobblestones.
The man ran away with the boy. The mother looked around for her son. She called him but didn't see him anywhere. She whirled around, beginning to panic, then screamed. It was as if he had been swallowed by the crowd. She would remember this moment for all of her days.
The man jumped onto a bay mare and rode off with the boy. He galloped from the city proper and raced past prickly pear cacti, cypresses, and olive trees on a road illuminated by a crescent moon. In time, he approached a dilapidated building set off by itself, a boxy, broken shadow in the night. It was the Ospizio di Santa Teresa, a madhouse that held lunatics, lepers, and the poor.
The man entered the building's courtyard and halted the mare. He dismounted and threw the crying child over his shoulder, then banged on the door, which was opened by a guard. The kidnapper handed the boy over with a sack of ducats, then left.
The guard pocketed the ducats and took the boy inside the madhouse. The place was dark at this hour, though it was never quiet. The wails, rants, and cries of a hundred lunatics echoed throughout its stone walls. The guard crossed the entrance hall with the boy and entered the kitchen, where the only illumination came from the moon filtered through a dirty window.
"Sit, boy!" The guard dumped the boy onto the wooden table.
"Mamma?" the boy whispered, teary. "Where's Mamma?"
"She doesn't want you anymore." The guard picked up a knife, its sharp blade glinting in the moonlight.
"No!" The boy scrambled backward, terrified the guard would stab him. Instead, the guard used the knife to cut his own finger, drawing blood.
"Look what you did, boy! You cut me!"
"I didn't! Mamma! Papa!"
"Shut up!"
The guard picked up the boy, left the kitchen, and crossed the entrance hall. He reached the stairs and descended into a gloom that reeked of mice and chamber pots. He lumbered down a hallway lined with the cells of the male lunatics. The walls were of crumbling plaster, and the metal doors dented from within.
"Renzo? Renzo?" one of the lunatics shouted.
"Renzo, I'm hungry!" shouted another.
"Let me out! Please, I beg you!"
The guard reached the end of the hall and stopped at an open door, scattering the rats. He entered a cell that contained only a chamber pot and the frame of a bed with no mattress. A crucifix hung on the wall above an iron chain that ended in a leg manacle. A small window, set oddly high, admitted moonlight through its bars.
The guard tossed the boy onto the floor and picked up the manacle, realizing it was sized for an adult, not a child. He would have to come back with a rope.
"Mamma!" the boy called out, sobbing.
Palermo, Sicily
1810
It was the final night of the Festival of Saint Rosalia, and hundreds of people lined Via Toledo, cheering, praying, and singing hymns. Priests led the procession, holding tapers that glowed like halos in the darkness. Spectators looked up the street, craning their necks to see the ornate silver reliquary of the patron saint. The carabinieri faced that way, too, their plumed hats in a line, their horses shifting on polished hooves.
Only a bearded man looked away, down the street. Nobody noticed him in the shadows behind the crowd. He kept his eye on the wealthy families privileged to stand on the Quattro Canti, or Four Corners, which was the intersection of Palermo's two most important streets: Via Toledo, extending to the harbor, and Via Maqueda, bisecting the capital.
The procession moved down the street, and the crowd's fervor intensified, anticipating the reliquary. People kissed pictures of the young saint, held roses up to her, and cheered Viva Palermo è viva Santa Rosalia! Among the privileged on the Quattro Canti, the husbands surged forward to see better and the wives remained behind with the children.
The bearded man threaded his way to a little boy standing with his mother at the back of the Quattro Canti. He snuck up behind the boy and waited for the moment to pounce.
The saint's reliquary popped into view, and the crowd erupted in shouting, cheering, and weeping. The boy's mother burst into pious tears, and the bearded man made his move. He pulled a marionette from under his cloak and showed it to the boy. The boy reached for the marionette, and in one cruel motion, the man grabbed the boy and flung his cloak over him. The clamor of the crowd devoured the boy's startled cry. The marionette dropped to the cobblestones.
The man ran away with the boy. The mother looked around for her son. She called him but didn't see him anywhere. She whirled around, beginning to panic, then screamed. It was as if he had been swallowed by the crowd. She would remember this moment for all of her days.
The man jumped onto a bay mare and rode off with the boy. He galloped from the city proper and raced past prickly pear cacti, cypresses, and olive trees on a road illuminated by a crescent moon. In time, he approached a dilapidated building set off by itself, a boxy, broken shadow in the night. It was the Ospizio di Santa Teresa, a madhouse that held lunatics, lepers, and the poor.
The man entered the building's courtyard and halted the mare. He dismounted and threw the crying child over his shoulder, then banged on the door, which was opened by a guard. The kidnapper handed the boy over with a sack of ducats, then left.
The guard pocketed the ducats and took the boy inside the madhouse. The place was dark at this hour, though it was never quiet. The wails, rants, and cries of a hundred lunatics echoed throughout its stone walls. The guard crossed the entrance hall with the boy and entered the kitchen, where the only illumination came from the moon filtered through a dirty window.
"Sit, boy!" The guard dumped the boy onto the wooden table.
"Mamma?" the boy whispered, teary. "Where's Mamma?"
"She doesn't want you anymore." The guard picked up a knife, its sharp blade glinting in the moonlight.
"No!" The boy scrambled backward, terrified the guard would stab him. Instead, the guard used the knife to cut his own finger, drawing blood.
"Look what you did, boy! You cut me!"
"I didn't! Mamma! Papa!"
"Shut up!"
The guard picked up the boy, left the kitchen, and crossed the entrance hall. He reached the stairs and descended into a gloom that reeked of mice and chamber pots. He lumbered down a hallway lined with the cells of the male lunatics. The walls were of crumbling plaster, and the metal doors dented from within.
"Renzo? Renzo?" one of the lunatics shouted.
"Renzo, I'm hungry!" shouted another.
"Let me out! Please, I beg you!"
The guard reached the end of the hall and stopped at an open door, scattering the rats. He entered a cell that contained only a chamber pot and the frame of a bed with no mattress. A crucifix hung on the wall above an iron chain that ended in a leg manacle. A small window, set oddly high, admitted moonlight through its bars.
The guard tossed the boy onto the floor and picked up the manacle, realizing it was sized for an adult, not a child. He would have to come back with a rope.
"Mamma!" the boy called out, sobbing.
