The Uncle from Rome

A Novel

By: Joseph Caldwell

Narrated by: Liisa Ivary

An American opera singer travels to Naples and becomes embroiled in his strangest role yet.

Michael Ruane is an obscure American opera singer who arrives in Naples to play a small part in an important production of Tosca and star in his own staging of a little-known Benjamin Britten opera. The work comes at a particularly trying time, when he’s still raw with grief after his New York lover’s death from AIDS. As the productions get under way, Ruane is offered an unusual part: That of the “uncle from Rome” at a local wedding. According to tradition, the presence of the uncle from Rome at important events confers prestige on the family. However, Ruane is soon enmeshed in a drama that surpasses any role he has played on the stage. The Uncle from Rome is a brilliant and colorfully imagined novel filled with theatrics of operatic proportions.

©1992 Joseph Caldwell (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

An unusual tale set in Italy but with an unexpected pathos and ending

An unusual tale set in Italy but with an unexpected pathos and ending. The interweaving of Italian with English gave authenticity to the production.