SICILIAN AVENGERS

Riggio translates Natoli’s historic Sicilian romance into English for the first time.

Palermo, 1698: Sicily is a chess piece in the vast political game between the powers of France, Spain, and Savoy, and the cavaliere Don Raimondo Albamonte, younger brother of the Duke of Motta, wants desperately to be a player. When the duke is killed fighting for the king of Spain, Don Raimondo schemes to have his infant nephew kidnapped so that he can inherit his brother’s title—and all of the wealth and influence that comes with it. Flash-forward 15 years, when the young peasant Blasco da Castiglione arrives in Palermo. An orphan raised in a convent, the adventurous Blasco has come to the city looking for a priest he knew in his youth who might be able to shed light on his obscure origins. His path soon crosses that of the Beati Paoli, a much-feared secret society who “are everywhere, invisible, impossible to find, yet always present. When one least expects it, they are at our sides, at our backs, in church, along the street, perhaps even at home; and we are not aware of it…. No one can guard against them.” With its hooded members unafraid to take on the political and religious powers that be, the Beati—and Blasco—are poised to change the course of Sicilian history. The novel, which was originally published serially in 1909, is regarded as a classic in Italy and counted Umberto Eco among its fans. (Eco’s introduction to the 1971 Italian edition of the novel is included as an afterword.) This first of two volumes is an immersive wonder—Riggio’s translation maintains the richness of the earlier era, evoking the romances of Walter Scott and Alexander Dumas: “Blasco threw his cape over his shoulders and went out. Midnight had sounded…Blasco didn’t have anyone waiting for him; he had neither a carriage nor a litter nor a portantina, nor servants with torches or lanterns to light up his path.” Lovers of a certain vintage of adventure will be grateful for this newly translated classic.

A sweeping, swashbuckling epic set in the Kingdom of Sicily.