Malvern’s Lisa Scottoline, New York Times best-selling author with 35 books under her belt, talks about her latest book, Loyalty, that moves from her usual Philadelphia to Sicily, reports Aunyea Lachelle for NBC10 Philadelphia.
The historic thriller brings 19th-century Sicily alive with quests, revenge, and compelling heroes. The novel is a nod to the author’s own Italian heritage.
With the mafia not being an unknown in Philadelphia, Scottoline started wondering where the group got its start. She also wanted to set the record straight about its origins, which link to economic reasons.
“It’s not like all Sicilians are mobsters or all Italians are mobsters,” she said.
Scottoline used a unique writing style to introduce these themes and utilizes fairytale themes to bring the story to life.
“The folkloric tradition is very much a part of the 1800s in Sicily because, frankly, illiteracy is really widespread,” she said. “You can’t read, you’re not able to read, you don’t have access to libraries, and only the nobility has the law, the money, the houses, the everything.”
The lower classes are kept down and they start telling their own stories. This made Sicily’s tradition rich with folklore — something Scottoline has used generously in her book.
Watch the entire segment at NBC10 Philadelphia.
