The Nine Lives of Tito d’Amelia
By Ettore Farrattini Pojani
Italian Literature / Historical Fiction
Publisher: Bayou City Press
Pages: 326
Publication Date: October 11, 2024
This is the first (and only) English-language version of the award-winning Italian novel, The Nine Lives of Tito d’Amelia. Nine Lives is a love story about a cat, a family, and an Italian town.
Mixing fiction with fact, Nine Lives tells the story of the town of Amelia, Italy, throughout the 32 centuries of its history. In fact, Amelia is considered the first organized city of central Italy, being four centuries older than Rome. The author uses the multiple lives of a cat named Tito as the way to span the centuries.
Author Ettore Farrattini Pojani is the heir of the Farrattini dynasty, a centuries-old family in Umbria whose family palazzo is in Amelia, north of Rome. Tito’s first life occurs in pre-historic Umbria, and his ninth is in the future. Tito’s mission through all nine of his lives is to help the town and the family to succeed.
A changing cast of characters traces the Farrattini line through the centuries, with Tito joining up with a Farrattini in each generation. Using his feline wiles, Tito bends humans to his will, helping them through many challenges from drought to wars to lovelorn marriages to selfish politicization of joint crises.
In this highly imaginative novel, the author mixes fictional lives with non-fictional information about historical figures as well as the Farrattini family and the town of Amelia. Readers are left wondering about details, such as what is fiction and what is fact. The last chapter will evoke surprise, though a clue that the surprise is coming is contained in the very first chapter. Originally published in Italy in 2022, this first English-language translation is published by Bayou City Press in Houston, Texas, and includes additional drawings, maps, lists of characters, a listing of foreign words and special terms, and notes on sources.
*** CLICK TO PURCHASE ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW
This is quite an interesting book that blends history with the nine lives of this charming cat, Tito, who spends those nine lives being reincarnated in different places around the town of Amelia as it grows from a humble beginning to a thriving town. He’s guided by some instinct to appear at the right place at the right time, and that is such a clever way to present the way the town of Amelia changed over a long span of time.
Giving Tito his own voice was a terrific decision by the author, as I always imagine my own cats wishing they had one to prod their human to do their will. I laughed when Tito tried so hard to tell his humans that his name was Tito, not the name chosen by these clueless people through each of his ensuing incarnations.
Each chapter starts with a list of the people important to the narrative of that particular time, which is helpful in keeping track of the families and how they interconnected. The introductions contain valuable information about the people and events that shaped that moment in the history of Amelia. Then the history is related as seen through Tito’s eyes as he does what he has to to insure that the Farrattini family line will survive through the centuries.
The narrative moves in and out of actual historical fact to the fantasy of this cat who plays such a vital role in that history. I honestly enjoyed the parts where the story was shown through Tito’s eyes, and I was privy to his thoughts and feelings. Like I said about the voice, it’s always fun to imagine what our cats, or any pet, is actually thinking when they look at us as if trying to send a message. The sections of the book that were heavy with historical fact weren’t quite as engaging for me, but then we’d quickly get back to Tito and all was well. Perhaps that historical aspect is more appealing to readers interested in European history, and the narrative certainly has a ring of authenticity that indicates a great deal of research was done in the writing of the book.
The final incarnation of Tito is quite a surprise and a nice wrap up for the entire journey of this clever and adventurous cat. Some of the underlying themes of kindness and generosity and the benefits of hard work, are tied together nicely in the ending of the book.
With its great mix of history and fantasy, I recommend The Nine Lives of Tito D’Amelia to readers of who enjoy historical fiction with an added twist – Tito.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ettore Farrattini Pojani is the heir of the noble Italian Farrattini dynasty, whose family palazzo is in Amelia, Italy, north of Rome. A music expert and critic, Ettore has published extensively on music topics and currently is a collaborator on the website Broadwayworld.com.
This, his second book, was published in Italy in 2022 and has won numerous awards. Prior to focusing on writing, Ettore studied art restoration and specialized in furniture restoration. For almost 20 years he had a workshop in Rome in which hundreds of valuable, unique pieces were brought back to their splendor thanks to his dedication and expertise. In 2001 he transformed the family palazzo into a hotel de charme, which he personally ran for 15 years until it was damaged by the 2016 earthquake.
A dedicated traveler, Ettore is fluent in French and English besides his native Italian.
WEBSITE ◆ FACEBOOK ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ TIKTOK
Bayou City Press:
WEBSITE ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ LINKEDIN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giveaway -Three winners will receive autographed copies of the book. Ends 11-10 – U.S. Only
*** ENTER HERE TO WIN! ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH BLOG PARTICIPATING IN THIS TOUR.
blog tour services provided by
