Tag Archives: Coming of Age Fiction

What Once Was Promised Virtual Book Tour

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Coming of Age Fiction

Date Published: May 6, 2024

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

 

He came for a better life, but it didn’t turn out to be an easy one.

Sixteen-year-old Domenic Bassini sets out alone for America from his small
village in Italy in 1914. He falls in love during a brief onboard affair
with the beautiful Francesca, the wife of a man with Sicilian Mafia
connections. But he loses her and arrives in Boston instead with an orphan
stowaway named Ernesto Lentini in tow.

Domenic and Ernesto stay at the home of old family friends in Boston’s
Italian North End neighborhood, sharing a room with their son, Joe. Domenic
becomes like a big brother to Joe and Ernesto, who become inseparable
friends.

As the years and decades pass, youthful rivalries and fateful decisions
lead to unpredictable and sometimes unsavory outcomes. Between moments of
joy and great tragedy, the three friends’ lives take very divergent paths
amidst the turbulence of factions vying for power in the early 20th century
Boston where the lines between politics, crime and policing are
blurred.

But after all that has kept them apart, can Domenic, Ernesto, Joe and even
Francesca, come together to settle the score with those who have spent a
lifetime fighting against them?

What Once Was Promised paperback

About the Author

LOUIS TRUBIANO

LOUIS TRUBIANO spent over forty years in the advertising industry, most of
it as president of his own firm. Born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts,
he earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Rochester and a
master’s degree from Boston University’s College of
Communication. He and his wife live in Canton, Massachusetts and have three
daughters, six grandchildren, and one spoiled dog.

 

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What Once Was Promised cover

Coming of Age Fiction

Date Published: May 6, 2024

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

 

He came for a better life, but it didn’t turn out to be an easy one.

Sixteen-year-old Domenic Bassini sets out alone for America from his small
village in Italy in 1914. He falls in love during a brief onboard affair
with the beautiful Francesca, the wife of a man with Sicilian Mafia
connections. But he loses her and arrives in Boston instead with an orphan
stowaway named Ernesto Lentini in tow.

Domenic and Ernesto stay at the home of old family friends in Boston’s
Italian North End neighborhood, sharing a room with their son, Joe. Domenic
becomes like a big brother to Joe and Ernesto, who become inseparable
friends.

As the years and decades pass, youthful rivalries and fateful decisions
lead to unpredictable and sometimes unsavory outcomes. Between moments of
joy and great tragedy, the three friends’ lives take very divergent paths
amidst the turbulence of factions vying for power in the early 20th century
Boston where the lines between politics, crime and policing are
blurred.

But after all that has kept them apart, can Domenic, Ernesto, Joe and even
Francesca, come together to settle the score with those who have spent a
lifetime fighting against them?

About the Author

LOUIS TRUBIANO

LOUIS TRUBIANO spent over forty years in the advertising industry, most of
it as president of his own firm. Born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts,
he earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Rochester and a
master’s degree from Boston University’s College of
Communication. He and his wife live in Canton, Massachusetts and have three
daughters, six grandchildren, and one spoiled dog.

 

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Ivy Hill Virtual Book Tour

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A Novel inspired by True Events

 

Coming of Age / Fiction

Date Published: November 28, 2023

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

 

 

What happens when a loving family man dies suddenly and a stranger takes
his place?

IVY HILL is a thoroughly American coming-of-age story set in the mid-20th
century. Earthy, realistic, and mordantly funny, it is rich with details of
that iconic era. It is also a timeless, universal tale of redemption,
morality and conquering adversity, with nearly-mythic elements anyone from
any century and virtually any culture would recognize: there’s a wicked
giant, a good grandmother and a bad one, a “ghost” or two, and
even, in a manner of speaking, a dark potion.

And at the center of the story, an innocent child.

Love, death, danger and fate intertwine in this novel, which was inspired
by author Arthur Ruben’s actual life. It takes place in Brooklyn from
1952-1957, then Newark from 1958-1970. Ruben’s protagonist, five-year-old
“Eddie,” is devastated following the death of his beloved
34-year-old father. He waits in vain and with a slowly breaking heart for
Daddy to return. His mother’s disastrous remarriage, plus the family’s
wrenching move from Brooklyn, NY, to the Ivy Hill section of Newark, NJ,
turns Eddie’s life inside out. Over the next thirteen years, he is
transformed from helpless brokenhearted child into an entirely different
creature. The post-war society he was born into is also transformed: the
repercussions of that potent and turbulent time, still in living memory-Viet
Nam, Woodstock, the Mansons, and especially now, civil rights-are with us to
this day, and will resonate with millions of readers.

 

Ivy Hill tablet

EXCERPT

He made another trip to the vault, unaccompanied this time, with another selection of her jewelry.  He’d decided to always take the stairs down from her fifth-floor apartment when he was carrying. If the elevator broke for some reason, he didn’t want to be trapped with a briefcase full of jewels. He wanted to always be able to move. On the third trip, he was descending the stairs between the fourth and third floors when he was surprised by two men coming through the door onto the landing. One was young, around thirty, not tall but shaped like a bear, and the other was older, in his 60s, with a hat and a black beard: Rabbi Kaplan.

The younger one, as it turned out, though Irwin never got a proper introduction, was Mrs. Rivkin’s nephew. It seemed that he, too, had had his eye on the treasure in the closet, and had kept a mental inventory. He informed Irwin of all of this in terse, colorful, economical language as he seized the briefcase, shoved Irwin down the stairs to the next landing, forced the case open, gathered the jewelry and stuffed it in his pockets, then  tossed the briefcase, papers flying, down to Irwin.

The Rabbi had stood grinning at the top of the stairs, looking at Irwin where he lay in a heap.

Get out and never come back, he said. Your services are no longer needed.

 

 

IVY HILL, co-authored by Arthur Ruben with Eleanor Cooney, is inspired by true events.

 

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Plague of Flies Virtual Book Tour

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Alternate History Science Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction

 

 

Date Published: October 16, 2021

Publisher: Sand Hill Review Press

In 1846 Alta California, Catalina Delgado daydreams about her future: roping cattle, marrying Angelo Ortega and raising children. But now, invaders from the United States-the Bear Flaggers-have declared war against Mexico, her country. Bear Flaggers have imprisoned one close friend of her family and murdered others. What fate might befall her parents, grandfather and younger brothers? And what about her best friend, a Costanoan servant girl? How can Catalina, only sixteen, help protect all those she loves?

An old vaquero once predicted a mysterious Spirit Man would someday ride off with Catalina. This has clouded her reputation as a chaste young woman, one reason why Angelo’s father doesn’t want her for a future daughter-in-law. Now Catalina learns another reason. Her mamá is not her natural mother. Catalina is a mestiza, the daughter of her papi and a former servant woman.

Catalina prays for guidance, then dares to leave her bedroom at night to seek a spiritual vision. She ends up riding into the sky with Spirit Man. They remove gold nuggets from a river to prevent Bear Flaggers or anyone else from discovering the treasure. Will this be Catalina’s duty for the rest of her life? And is Spirit Man good or evil?

For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina risks what is left of her reputation, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.

For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina risks what is left of her reputation, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.

Plague of Flies tablet

 

EXCERPT 

 

From Chapter Six:

A horse with a lofty gallop races beside mine, as if he charges into battle. This animal is larger than Fandango, over a full hand higher, and black as obsidian. I blink over and over. My eyes water. An abundant ebony mane flows over the horse’s arched neck. The forelock whips between well-placed ears. Madre de Dios. This horse is no common mustang, no Spanish barb. It is an Andalusian, like the one in the prophecy.

A man leans out of the Andalusian’s saddle, his arm stretched out. The wind billows his white sleeve. Fingers hidden by short, black leather gloves grab Fandango’s reins. His exposed wrists are as pale as those of the dead.

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Plague of Flies cover

 

Alternate History Science Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction

 

 

Date Published: October 16, 2021

Publisher: Sand Hill Review Press

In 1846 Alta California, Catalina Delgado daydreams about her future: roping cattle, marrying Angelo Ortega and raising children. But now, invaders from the United States-the Bear Flaggers-have declared war against Mexico, her country. Bear Flaggers have imprisoned one close friend of her family and murdered others. What fate might befall her parents, grandfather and younger brothers? And what about her best friend, a Costanoan servant girl? How can Catalina, only sixteen, help protect all those she loves?

An old vaquero once predicted a mysterious Spirit Man would someday ride off with Catalina. This has clouded her reputation as a chaste young woman, one reason why Angelo’s father doesn’t want her for a future daughter-in-law. Now Catalina learns another reason. Her mamá is not her natural mother. Catalina is a mestiza, the daughter of her papi and a former servant woman.

Catalina prays for guidance, then dares to leave her bedroom at night to seek a spiritual vision. She ends up riding into the sky with Spirit Man. They remove gold nuggets from a river to prevent Bear Flaggers or anyone else from discovering the treasure. Will this be Catalina’s duty for the rest of her life? And is Spirit Man good or evil?

For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina risks what is left of her reputation, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.

For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina risks what is left of her reputation, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.

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