The Prince (67 page)

During the meeting, Don Calò asked what happened to Jano Vassallo.

“He lost,” Saro replied. The old boss nodded, satisfied, and asked no more questions.

A few months later, once Jano's “mental illness” became established, the Vatican annulled his marriage to Mena Losurdo, on the grounds that his psychic flaw had been concealed from her at the time of their nuptials.

A year later, Mena and Saro realized their dream of love, and little Saruzzo was finally able to embrace his real father: Saro Ragusa, the new boss of Salemi.

Such was life in Sicily in those days: a cup of bitter gall.

My thanks to all the “fathers.”

The “father” of a novel is never solely the author. It all began six years ago, when Sergio Fumasoni, a dear friend who has lived and breathed publishing since he was in short pants, tried to convince me to write a story about the Mafia. At the time, Vincenzo Labella (writer and producer of
Jesus of Nazareth
,
Marco Polo
, and other miniseries), sent us an article from the Los Angeles
Herald Tribune
by Stash Luczkiw, in which the poet regretted that stories like
The Godfather
were no longer written. The article was inspiring, and I accepted the challenge. It was Fumasoni who gave me a starting point: among his papers, he had a 1945 dossier on the sinking of the
Normandie
. I wrote
The Father
—
Il Padrino dei Padrini
(
The Godfather of Godfathers
), which Fumasoni brought to Carmine Parmigiani, a film producer. Parmigiani was immediately excited about the story and in turn passed it on by email to a friend of his in Los Angeles, Fabio Mancini, a producer at Paramount. The producers of the “majors”—the major film studios—presented it among their selections for fall 2007. At the same time, Parmigiani also had the manuscript read by director Alessandro D'Alatri, who, more than anyone else, saw a strong likelihood that Prince Licata's story might stir movie audiences' emotions. D'Alatri instantly took action and proposed the novel to the publisher of Newton Compton Editori, Raffaello Avanzini. I will never forget the day we received his “okay,” and he showed me the cover of the book. Finally, the last “father” of this book is actually a “mother”: namely, Giusi Sorvillo, the novel's editor. It's always smooth sailing with Sorvillo; she can wield a pen like Benvenuto Cellini's chisel.

To all of them, I offer my sincere gratitude and warm recognition for bringing me to the result you hold in your hands.

But there are still two people who are in my thoughts at this moment. The first is Giuliana, my wife from time immemorial, who from time immemorial has supported my dreams. To her I apologize for all the sacrifices that she's had to make to get to this day. The second one's name is also Giuliana, and she is my daughter. For her I wish a life full of dreams—and that they may come true.

Rome, October 13, 2009

Anne Milano Appel, PhD, is an award-winning translator whose latest translations from the Italian include Paolo Giordano's
The Human Body,
Andrea Canobbio's
Three Light-Years,
Goliarda Sapienza's
The Art of Joy,
Claudio Magris's
Blindly,
and Giovanni Arpino's
Scent of a Woman
. Most recently her work was awarded the John Florio Prize for Italian Translation (2013) and the 33rd and 32nd Northern California Book Awards Translation Prize for Fiction (2014 and 2013).

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2009 by Newton Compton Editori, s.r.l., Roma, Casella postale 6214, Italia

Jacket design by Anna Dorfman

Jacket photographs © George Marks/Retrolife/Getty Images (MAN); Archive Holdings Inc./Getty Images (Skyline); Grimgram/Shutterstock (Tommy Gun); Angela Babii/Shutterstock (Clouds and Water)

Author photograph by Salvatore Scirè

English language translation copyright © 2014 by Anne Milano Appel

Originally published in Italy in 2009 as
The Father: Il padrino dei padrini
by Newton Compton Editori

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Atria Books hardcover edition March 2015

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bruschini, Vito.

 [Father. English]

 The prince / by Vito Bruschini.—First Atria books hardcover edition.

  pages cm

 “English language translation . . . by Anne Milano Appel”

 Originally published in Italy in 2009 as The father: Il padrino dei padrini by Newton Compton Editori.

1. Mafia—Fiction. I. Appel, Anne Milano, translator. II. Title.

 PQ4902.R76F3813 2014

 853'.92—dc23

                 2013035380

ISBN 978-1-4516-8719-4

ISBN 978-1-4516-8721-7 (ebook)