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Not only are two time periods and love stories intertwined, This Most Amazing grapples with questions of the human soul and the bonds of family through generations.
The Book has been published via Armida Books and is available as eBook and Paperback - 300 pages - released in April 2013.
About the Book
What if you went to bed and lived another person's life in your sleep? What if your ancestors’ stories could be replayed in your dreams?
In This Most Amazing, fiery Dahlia, a poet embarking on new love, experiences scenes from the life of Vincenzo, an Italian soldier who, in 1797 Italy, deserts Napoleon Bonaparte's army. Thus, she blazes into the unknown, living through an alternate reality tethered to a life hundreds of years ago. How will she reconcile her own life path with Vincenzo's?
Alternating narratives between Vincenzo and Dahlia, the novel shifts between Italy in 2012/2013 and 1797. In 2012, Dahlia leaves to teach poetry in Italy and throws herself into the local culture and language. During this time, she begins to have dreams about Vincenzo’s life that resemble movie scenes. While her boyfriend is in the United States and she is in Italy, they both grapple with their new relationship and Dahlia’s paranormal flashbacks to the past.
.jpg "This Most Amazing (Jenny Benjamin)") |
| Click to Read an Excerpt |
In 1797, Vincenzo returns home to his family after desertion. He is thrown from one hardship into another; after weeks of living in anxiety and hunger, he now has to cope with his father’s death and the memory of war. Because of his desertion, he is taken to the village jail, where he is asked to paint the portrait of the daughter of the village doctor, the beautiful Ottavia. This assignment gives him hope for the future, but will it save or ruin him? Can he let go of the past or will it catch up with him? Vincenzo’s cell soon proves to be a place where love and death are intrinsically intertwined.
Are the people from our pasts truly inside of us, in one way or another? How could Dahlia’s life still be connected to Vincenzo’s fate?
Reviews (Excerpts)
- "I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I generally shy away from books set in different time periods and/or countries but this book came highly recommended by a fellow bookworm. I was prepared for a "slow" read but I was instantly drawn in by the characters and the beautiful writing. I could not put this down as I genuinely found myself caring about all of the characters and their lives. I was anxious to see how the author would tie characters from different centuries and continents together and I was not disappointed.[...]" - Teresa Smith
- "This book provides an interesting insight in the mind of a present-day artist, who is struggling to combine her own dreams, ambitions, feminist tendencies, and hopes with reality. The characters are human in their flaws and doubts, and therefore all the more likeable. The book confronts us in an uncomplicated and unpretentious fashion with what it means to be human, and which problems, as well as wonderful aspects, come with it. Definitely recommended! " - Miene
- "I was a bit jarred by the opening sentence of this novel, but it sure got my attention! From the first page, I was hooked. The characters were visceral, their stories touching and passionate. As I read, I felt myself drawn into their stories, much as the main character, Dahlia, takes a dip into the collective unconscious of her ancestors. I dreamed about them, as I read the book and missed them after I'd finished it. A gorgeous first novel. More, please! " - Hilary Dumitrescu
About the Author
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| Author Jenny Benjamin |
She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA with her three daughters. As an Italian-American whose family comes from Villetta Barrea, Italy, the main setting of the novel, Benjamin’s idea for This Most Amazing stems from a family story: supposedly, her paternal great-great grandfather fought with Napoleon’s army during the Italian campaigns.
After a time, he simply walked home and fell in love with his future wife in the village jail, where she brought him food each day. This Most Amazing is her first novel.
Links to the Author and the Book
Link to the Author's Website
Connect with the Author on Facebook: ThisMostAmazing
Link to the Paperback This Most Amazing with Excerpt on Amazon
Link to the eBook This Most Amazing with Excerpt on Amazon
