Many families are comprised of the good and the bad, the cherished and the reprehensible, some change, others never intend to. This is the generational saga of the ups and downs of one such family.In Stanoli, author Dr. Vincent M.M. Galici Sr. narrates the story of generations of the Stanoli's, an Italian family involved in organized crime. It journeys through the lives of key figures in the clan and traces their lifestyles, ideals, purposes, successes, failures, and the will to march on despite heartbreaking setbacks and sometimes inhuman decisions.Filled with colorful characters, Stanoli provides insight into one Mafia family where the will to correct poor choices and make a better life for their progeny is the hope and dream. Some achieve it while others fall short perpetuating a seemingly insurmountable cycle. Yet with each generational attempt, courage abides and promise of a better posterity is cultivated. Some will never change, leaving a legacy of gloom and doom, while others become the better person, paying whatever price to attain the dream and leave a bright and happy trail.

Originally released in October 2020, shortlisted for the 2021 UJ Literary Award and now available in paperback b-format.

Meet the Mafus, a close-knit, traditional family with three daughters. As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches of their family intact. Independent and feisty Xoliswa returns home, after a hiatus abroad, hoping for a fresh start and a chance to steer the family business; rebellious Yandisa has met the love of her life and is finally getting her act together; while dutiful newlywed Zandile is slowly becoming disillusioned with her happily ever after.

The Mafus always present a united front, but as their personal lives unravel, devastating secrets are revealed that threaten to tear the family apart. For how long will they be able to hide behind the façade of a picture-perfect family?

1939. After the sudden and tragic loss of her husband, Helen is returning home to her mother's house in Biggin Hill, Kent - the one place she vowed she'd never go back to again. Alone and not knowing where to turn, Helen finds herself joining the local women's sewing circle despite being hopeless with a needle and thread. These resourceful women can not only make do and mend clothes, quilts and woolly hats, but their friendship mends something deeper in Helen too. Lizzie is a natural leader, always ready to lend a helping hand or a listening ear. Effie has uprooted her life from London to keep her two little girls away from the bombing raids, and the sewing circle is a welcome distraction from worries about how to keep a roof over their heads and about her husband too, now serving in active duty overseas. When the reason for Helen's husband's death comes to light, her world is turned upside down yet again. The investigating officer on the case, Richard, will leave no stone unturned, but it's not long before his interest in Helen goes beyond the professional. As she pieces together old fabrics into a beautiful quilt, will Helen patch up the rifts in her own life? The Patchwork Girls by Elaine Everest is a moving story about the ties of friends and family, set during the turbulence of World War II.

'It's not a fair world I'm afraid. Beauty or fortune carries the day. You have the beauty and I the fortune, so there's every chance we'll succeed'In Regency England, marriage is everything. For young widow Sybella Lovatt, the time has come to find a suitable husband for her sister and ward Lucie. Male suitors are scarce near their Wiltshire estate, so the sisters resolve to head to London in time for the Season to begin. Once ensconced at the Mayfair home of Lady Godley, Lucie's godmother, the whirl of balls, parties and promenades can begin. But the job of finding a husband is fraught with rules and tradition. Jostling for attention are the two lords - the charming and irresistible Freddie Lynwood and the preternaturally handsome Valentine Ravenell, their enigmatic neighbour from Shotten Hall, Mr Brabazon, and the dangerous libertine Lord Rockliffe, with whom the brooding Brabazon is locked in deadly rivalry. Against the backdrop of glamorous Regency England, Sybella must settle Lucie's future, protect her own reputation, and resist the disreputable rakes determined to seduce the beautiful widow. As the Season ends, will the sisters have found the rarest of things - a suitable marriage with a love story to match? Sunday Times bestselling author Jane Dunn brings the Regency period irresistibly to life in a page-turning novel packed with surprising revelations, which all comes wittily, gloriously, good in the end. Perfect for fans of Gill Hornby, Janice Hadlow, Jane Austen, and anyone with a Bridgerton-shaped hole in their lives. Praise for Jane Dunn: 'Outstanding, perceptive and delightfully readable.' Sunday Times Books of the Year 'Jane Dunn has written a splendid piece of popular history with the ready-pen of a highly skilled writer, endowed with remarkable insight.' Roy Strong, Daily Mail 'Jane Dunn is one of our best biographers.' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times What readers say about Jane Dunn: 'Absolutely brilliant book. Easy, interesting and certainly a page-turner. Enjoyed reading this book so much.' 'I loved this book, Jane Dunn writes with an insight into Elizabeths and Marys psyches that is mesmerising. I couldn't put it down and was gutted when I finally finished it, at a loss of what to read next.' 'One of the best books I have ever read. I have always been interested in this period of history and felt that this book and the way Dunn writes helps to bring history alive. Once I started reading I could not stop.'

"The IDEALIST" begins with a boy's imaginary quest to rescue his father from the czar's prison. Out of his imagination emerges Georg-Karl Russano, a Socialist journalist and champion of human rights. His father, disillusioned by the Russian Revolution, becomes his bitter enemy. Alessandra, his rst love, is from a prominent family whose wealth nances Mussolini's rise to power. Georg-Karl shares his fugitive existence with Roberto and Giulia until the secret police capture him.

After a daring escape, Georg-Karl rejoins Giulia and their son in exile. His book "Prisons" earns him international success, although fame leads him to a betrayal. He seeks redemption in the Spanish civil war. With the execution of his father and mistress, Georg-Karl loses faith in his cause, but the crucible of World War II restores his beliefs. With the Allied victory, Italy becomes a democracy, his ideals enshrined in its constitution. Russano re ects on his comrades./p>

."..their faded faces besieged his memory-the architects of destruction, the blind visionaries, the bright shadows of the underground, the prisoners of principles, the unhappy exiles, the soldiers of the republic, and the heroes of the Resistance. They were his life, his beacons, like the ery stars in the night."

The #1 New York Times bestselling author and "inspirational fiction superstar" (Publishers Weekly) presents this high stakes love story of danger, passion, and faith. She was a child caught in a riptide in the Caribbean Sea. He was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both of their lives forever. Ten years later Jack Ryder is a daring undercover agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She's an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father. This time when Jack and Eliza meet, there's a connection neither of them can explain. Both of their lives are on the line, and once again, the stakes are deadly high. Can they join forces in a complicated and dangerous mission, pretending to have a breathtaking love...without really falling? Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice...along a distant shore.

Renato Cisneros's great-great-grandmother Nicolasa bore seven children by her long-term secret love, who was also her priest, raising them alone in nineteenth century Peru. More than a century later, Renato, the descendent of that clandestine affair, struggles to wring information about his origins out of recalcitrant relatives, whose foibles match the adventures and dalliances of their ancestors. As buried secrets are brought into the light, the story of Nicolasa's progeny unfolds, bound up with key moments in the development of the Republic of Peru since its independence.

In 1888, after eight years of waiting and planning, Matt Donahue is finally ready to flee Ireland's oppression and journey to America. He has dreamed of having land of his own and a right to vote. But since the quota for Irish immigration has been filled, Matt must travel to Scotland in order to book passage to America.

On the trip, Matt meets a beautiful young woman named Annie Rice. They share a brief but unforgettable kiss, and as Marr starts his journey to America, he is unable to forget he. Once he arrives in New York City, he begins a correspondence with Annie; as he works his way from Pennsylvania to Ohio and, finally, to Minnesota, their love blossoms through the written word.

From an iron ore mine in Tower, Minnesota, Matt joins a gold rush to Rainy Lake City and eventually buys a parcel of land outside the small village of Koochiching, Minnesota. Finally with the new home to call his own, he returns to Ireland hoping Annie will marry him. But is she already married? Will she move to America against her mother's wishes?

Based on atrue story and filled with vivid historical details, "A Bit of Irish Gold" beautifully captures the immigrant experience.