Ithaca College

The book campaign for Trinàcria: A Tale of Bourbon Sicily ends Thursday, December 13. This is the last chance to donate at:

• http://www.indiegogo.com/trinacria

The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere is sponsoring this fundraiser to pay for the book's design, production, promotion, and distribution. So far, the campaign has raised $6,200 but seeks to raise $800 more before the final deadline. 

Guernica Editions, the book's publisher, believes Trinàcria "will contribute significantly to the ongoing debate about Italian national identity on both sides of the Atlantic." Written by Anthony Di Renzo, associate professor of writing, this historical work chronicles the destruction of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the Risorgimento (the War of Italian Unification). The novel will be released November 2, 2013.

Set in 18th and 19th century Palermo, Naples, and London, Trinàcria revolves around Zita Valanguerra Spinelli (1794-1882), Marchesa of Scalea, notorious beauty, ferocious wit, secret murderer, and reluctant businesswoman, whose turbulent life mirrors Sicily's rocky transition from feudalism to capitalism.

"Trinàcria is not 'ethnic' or nationalist niche literature," writes Vincenzo Salerno in Best of Sicily Magazine. "It's an overdue reality check on Italy's blood unification movement." The novel is also, Salerno believes, "a sly commentary" on contemporary globalization and nation building in the developing world.

Trinàcria has received advanced praise from such authors, journalists, and scholars as Peter D'Epiro, Margherita Ganeri, Edward Hower, John Keahey, Jeanne Mackin, Paul Paolicelli, and Shona Ramaya. To learn more about the novel, view this promotional video on You Tube or read the following interviews:

• Italiansrus.com (November 26, 2012)
• Magna Grece Magazine (October 7, 2012)
• Times of Sicily (October 6, 2012)