Falconara: A Family Odyssey

or several years, Falconara: A Family Odyssey, the book that traces seven families escaping Albania in the fifteenth century through Italy to the south side of Chicago in the twentieth century, has been out of print. Copies of Falconara have been offered on Amazon.com and by second-hand sellers at prices ranging between $100 and $200. We retained a few copies in our own library, parting with them almost reluctantly for $50 or more.

And as the supply dwindled, we kept telling ourselves that we needed to get this book back in print, not merely to satisfy public demand, but as a record for our own growing family that includes three children and nine grandchildren plus many other relatives

Finally, we decided to make Falconara available on the Internet en route to reprinting the book in a new and expanded edition with more background on the descendents of the seven families who founded Falconara-Albanese. Our goal is to rewrite and present each chapter online in a timely fashion, combining the final published version with material cut from an earlier manuscript that offered more details on the story. In a sense, what you are about to read is a “Director’s Cut.”

Our goal is to have the book fully rewritten and available online by the time of the next Falconara Fest in Chicago on Sunday, October 5. And at the same time publish a print edition that people can have in their libraries. More on that later.

In the meantime, you can begin reading. Start with the prologue. Chapters with titles in color are already available online. Others will follow, hopefully at one-week intervals. If you want to purchase a copy of the printed edition when it is available, contact us at RoadrunnerPress@comcast.net. We do not yet know the price, but will contact you when copies of Falconara are once more available to be sold.

THE FAMILY LEGEND

Prologue: IN SEARCH OF SEVEN FAMILIES

Part One: ALBANIA

Part Two: ITALY

5. "A FLY WILL EAT YOU”

6. CHICO AND ROSARIA

7. SURVIVAL

8. WANDERER