THREE DREAMERS

5 stars out of 5

As a die-hard fan of mystery/thriller/detective books, I admit I'd never, ever have picked it on my own. It is, after all, a memoir about three women who played major roles in the author's life: His grandmother, his mother and his wife - nope, definitely not my thing. But having read and absolutely loved two of the author's books featuring NYPD cop "Tank" Rizzo, I just didn't have the heart to say no when the publisher offered me a pre-release copy of this one to read and review. Oh why not, I said to myself - it's short.

Now I've finished - and that there wasn't more is the pity. What an eloquent yet simply written tribute to three very different women - with memories and heartfelt emotions pouring off every page from happy to sad to downright chilling. And as I read, the words triggered the same emotions in me; I chuckled, I got angry and yes, I teared up. But don't confuse emotional with sappy; this is a straightforward, honest report, if you will, on who these women were and how the person the author is today came to be because of, or in spite of, having them in his life.

In many ways, the three women couldn't be more different; Nonna Marie, a lifelong resident of an island just off the coast of Italy, is everything we non-Italians envision an Italian grandmother would be. Forgiving and unforgiving depending on the circumstances, her love for the author - who visited during many summers as a young boy - was boundless. Her stories of life during World War II were both raw and inspirational.

Contrast that with his mother, Raffaela, who did and said things to her son (in concert with and apart from her husband) that no child ever should be subjected to. Herself a victim of abuse, she didn't hesitate to make her son a whipping boy and blame him for her plight; yet throughout it all he knows that, in her way, she loved him. Admittedly, this was hard for me to read - as it was, I have no doubt, difficult for the author to write.

Last but hardly least is his wife of three decades, Susan. They met when she was a successful editor and he a struggling but up-and-coming writer; they stuck together through thick and thin until she died of lung cancer in 2013. Clearly, she was the love of his life - and the most important champion, in my mind, at least, of his becoming the successful writer that he is. Returning full circle by bringing his and Susan's children to his grandmother's grave after their mother died, he says, provided the inspiration for writing this book. To be sure, it's a special one - and in my opinion, he did all three women up proud (as, in their own ways, they did for him). A wonderful and inspirational book I highly recommend.

Three Dreamers by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Ballantine Books, April 2021); 240 pp.