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Testament: A Novel

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Set in a remote corner of the Roman Empire during a period of political unrest and spiritual uncertainty, Testament is a timeless story of how the holy man we know as Jesus alters forever the course of human history. We come to know Jesus through the eyes of four dissimilar people. First is Judas, a committed political fighter who is invigorated by his discussions with Jesus about a sovereign nation for the Jews -- a place Jesus imagines as a philosophical rather than a physical kingdom. Second is Miryam of Migdal, through whom we learn of Jesus''s controversial teachings as the two travel through Galilee and Jesus encourages the masses to question the teachings of the powerful few. Through Jesus'' mother, Miryam, we learn of his all-too-human vulnerability, the rigor of his conviction, and his unfailing compassion. Finally, it is through Simon of Gergesa, a Syrian shepherd, that we witness the last days of the Jewish preacher as he journeys to Jerusalem. Though Simon is uncertain about how to assess Jesus'' legacy, he now sees beauty where before there was none. Covering overlapping portions of Jesus'' life, Testament tells the recognizable story of the four Gospels but without recourse to miracle. The naturalism of the novel is based on extensive research and is utterly convincing, and yet there is indisputably something profound and even holy about the man and his teachings. As the novel progresses we begin to see how his story, filtered by different eyes and desires and subject to countless retellings, will be transformed into myth. Ricci is not the first novelist to approach this central figure of western civilization, but here he accomplishes something of an entirely new order: a portrait that is historically grounded, philosophically rich, and emotionally moving and that speaks eloquently to the place and power of stories in our lives.

In a Glass House

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Lives of the Saints

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Vittorio Innocente's childhood is shattered when his mother, Christina, has an affair with a blue-eyed stranger. For the tiny Italian village of Valle del Sole harbours century-old superstitions, fears, maliciousness, hypocrisy and a pagan past. The villagers' apparent Catholicism is no more than a mask to hide behind and a self-righteousness that harms Vittorio and his mother. But as he pieces together the story of his mother's 'crime,' Vittorio discovers the truths of the villagers, the village and gains a new understanding of human nature. Lives of the Saints won the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

In a Glass House: A Novel

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The second book in Ricci's award-winning Vittorio Innocente trilogy finds Vittorio arriving in Canada to travel with his half-sister to his father's haven, a farming community with ways both magical and forbidden

Lives of the Saints

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What really happened to Vittorio's mother that day in the stable? That she'd been bitten by a snake was clear enough: the swelling in her ankle proved it. But that other swelling, the one that led eventually to his mother's long, loose dresses, to those dark, cold stares from the other villagers - what strange thing could be taking shape in his mother's belly, and what doom could it carry them to?

 Set in Valle del Sole, a tiny village nestled in the folds of the Italian Appenines like a world forgotten, Lives of the Saints tells the story of Vittorio Innocente and his mother, Christina, whose affair with a blue-eyed stranger shatters  the innocence of Vittorio's childhood. As he pieces together the story of his mother's 'crime,' Vittorio discovers also the truths of the villagers and the village, and gains a new understanding of human nature. For the tiny Italian village of Valle del Sole harbours century-old superstitions, fears, maliciousness, hypocrisy and a pagan past. The villagers' apparent Catholicism is no more than a mask to hide behind and a self-righteousness that harms Vittorio and his mother.

 Lives of the Saints won the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

In a Glass House

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After a harrowing voyage from Italy, during which his mother died, seven-year-old Vittorio arrives in Canada with his newborn half-sister, and is reunited with his estranged father, a dark, isolated, and angry figure he hardly knows. The story that follows spans two decades of Vittorio's life within an immigrant Italian farming community in Southwestern Ontario, through his university years, and then into Africa where he goes to teach. At the centre of Vittorio's existence is his strained relationship with his father and with his half-sister, Rita. In a Glass House is a haunting tale about perseverance and longed-for redemption. Ricci juxtaposes the intimate, complex world of family, with "its shadowy intricate web of alliances," against the dislocations of the immigrant experience. The result is a richly textured and memorable novel.

Where She Has Gone; A Novel

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In the final installment of Nino Ricci''s acclaimed Vittorio Innocente trilogy, we find Ricci''s hero Vittorio strangely drawn to his half-sister Rita. After a disturbing moment between them, he realizes that what he''s been searching for is not just his sister- it''s their shared history and secret burdens. At once a resolution of previous tensions and a luminous portrayal of discovery and absolution, "Where She Has Gone "completes a haunting trilogy of the immigrant experience.

Where She Has Gone

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Returning to the Italian landscape of his acclaimed debut, "The Book of Saints", Ricci presents the third book in his Vittorio Innocente trilogy, a work of uncommon emotional impact. After his father's death, Vittorio finds himself drawn to his half-sister