The Family Angel

The Family Angel

<span>A sequel and partial parallel to Chicago's Headmistress. this<br />60-year saga of romance, deception, intrigue, and crime reveals the<br />Americanization of an Italian family, from immigrant bootleggers and coalminers<br />to winemakers and Vatican priests, but only a chosen few will encounter the<br />chameleon-like Black Angel who shows up when least expected to offer advice or<br />merely observe. After all, there's only so much one family angel can do.<br /><br />Petty bootleggers Carlo Baggio and his brother Jake are enjoying the good life<br />in 1925 Prohibition Chicago until Carlo enters into an arranged marriage with a<br />bride from Italy and Jake gets run out of town for cheating on the boss's<br />daughter. In the aftermath Carlo takes a bullet for Jake and is ready to cash<br />in his chips until a black angel Carlo dubs Angelo Nero convinces him<br />otherwise, more than once. For the next fifty years the Baggio brothers and<br />their families will experience hardship, tragedy, rewards, and the dubious<br />honor of Carlo's son becoming a priest. <br /><br />When Angelo Nero finally returns, it is to aid Carlo's grandson Frank during a<br />life-altering experience. Frank follows his uncle into the priesthood and<br />eventually trains for the prestigious Vatican Diplomatic Corps in Rome where he<br />encounters the angel again, along with a mysterious warning. Later, while<br />awaiting his first post, Frank becomes involved with a secret society within<br />the Vatican that assigns him the task of delivering a renegade-priest to Rome. Frank's<br />covert mission brings him back to the family farm in Illinois and to his grandfather<br />Carlo. Angelo Nero shows up too. But neither Carlo nor the angel can help Frank<br />choose between the diplomatic career he has coveted for years and sparing the<br />life of a priest defying tradition.</span><br /><span><br />The Family Angel will appeal to fans of The Roaring Twenties, The Prohibition<br />Era, The Great Depression, and WWII fiction.</span>