A Tale of Paris & Paris
Echoes of Troy: When the Future Whispers the Name of Love
Between Faith and Fire,
The Choice is Doom or Defiance
‘TIS THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY. LORENZO DI RANIERI, a sergeant of the Civic Militia of the Repubblica Fiorentina, returns to his hometown in the twilight ere the Greyfriar inquisitors set foot in Cortona. As the head of a noble family, he leads the perilous task of shielding his town from the Inquisition. Yet shall he and his fellows-at-arms prevail in warding not only his ruin but that of their kin and folk?
In the mean while, as he evades wedlock to lovely yet spirited Costanza, Lorenzo discovers his soul’s own kind—Vittorio, a wealthy merchant of cloths trapped in a loveless marriage to Elena. Natheless, steeped in shadowed craft beyond the stately draper he seems, Vittorio shall halt at nought to guard his truest love.
A witch’s guidance and the aid of a primordial god may tip the scales in their favor. Yet a wicked Franciscan Guardian and a cunning extortioner threaten to expose both their forbidden love and Lorenzo’s uncanny abilities. Time is against them. The pyres of La Piazza stand ready. Will they burn or outwit fate ere the flames uprise?
Author’s Note
A TALE OF PARIS & PARIS: ECHOES OF TROY IS AN ADULT HISTORICAL FANTASY NOVEL THAT DOES NOT MERELY DEPICT THE PAST—IT SPEAKS FROM WITHIN IT. Set against a backdrop of religious persecution and societal repression, it explores the lives of opposite- and same-gender couples striving to love and survive in a world determined to silence them. Blending historical authenticity with romance, political intrigue, supernatural elements, and intimate character study, the novel captures the spirit of medieval storytelling while infusing it with a modern literary sensibility.
The narrator’s voice echoes that of a bard from centuries past, weaving an immersive world through archaic syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. These linguistic textures evoke the nuance of medieval language while remaining accessible to the contemporary reader.
Yet this tale is more than its setting and style. It is an epic of psychological depth and magical realism, unfolding within the spiritual and political tension of early Renaissance Florence. Not a conventional romance, it is literary historical fantasy that mirrors the highs and lows of the human experience: social prejudice, institutional corruption, the abuse of the vulnerable, reproductive autonomy, the bliss of reuniting with one’s soul mate, and the sorrow of lost love.
These characters hold a special place in my heart. I hope they move readers to reflect upon their own notions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of felicity—that they weep and laugh with them, as I have. But above all, I hope they affirm this: that our souls, time and again, find one another across the ages, and that love—though oft imperiled—ever endures.
Rio de Janeiro, Winter of MMXXV