Arcamo Saga

"You, my little Anna, have my blood in your veins. Nonno said proudly. You think like a Del Forno. Yes, my mother told us stories about the wolves, but never to frighten us. To us, at that time, the wolves were just a fact of life, like a storm or people you had never met before and really just didn't understand. With wolves, one needs to learn, and having learned, one needs to adapt. It all revolves around Anna. 1965- Anna Del Forno was fifteen when she and her sister visited their grandparents at the farmhouse outside of Binghamton, New York. When a storm forced them to stay longer than expected, her grandfather, a reserved, almost reclusive man began telling them a story, one that he had kept to himself since his youth in the 1920s in Sicily, with his sister Gelsamina, and the baron DArcamo, and the wolves. 1980- Fifteen years later, Anna finds herself returning to the now abandoned farmhouse, only to discover clues and messages that begin a journey that takes her from Binghamton, all the way to Sicily. A journey that all along, she was intended to make. Some called it a legacy, others a curse. Gelsamina, the young woman in the portrait, can only offer so many clues. The rest, Anna must discover by herself. And yet, Gelsamina is always there, sharing a meal, sharing what she knows, sharing the legacy. And when she hears the wolves howling lanelito, the longing, Anna understands what she must do. There comes a point in time when, wanted or not, one's family gives them things. There also comes a time when one must accept them.

High-school senior Gina Corcoran lived a fairly normal life with her mother, grandmother, and brother. Once, every year or so, she would even get to leave her home in San Antonio, Texas, and spend a few weeks in the summer with her great-aunt Anna, at a small farmhouse just outside of Binghamton, New York. There she would be told stories of her family, of how they came from the Italian island of Sicily to Americafirst to New York, and then, when her grandmother moved, to Texasand of her life in San Antonio. Family stories like these often have a lasting effect upon a person. The stories that she wasnt told were older, deeper, darker, and would change her life forever. This is the story of Gina, the great-niece of Anna Del Forno, the wealthy owner and CEO of Del Forno Bottling, producers of Acqua DArcamo, a popular, bottled water made at a plant on the grounds of the Del Forno Villa, an estate in Arcamo, Sicily. How Anna came to be the head of such a profitable company and all the abundance that came with it, at first meant very little to Gina, until of course, the legacy took hold. What some would see as a family legacy, others might view as a curse. How could Gina have possibly known what turns her life would take, when with each passing day, each startling revelation brought her closer to danger, dancing with death. Have you ever been frightened? So afraid that you could barely control your own emotions? Imagine what it would feel like if your inner fears and angers got the better of you and came out. Think of it as letting out the inner beast. Imagine, over time, being able to allow those feelings to come out whenever you needed them. Oh, and imagine that when you do, you are no longer you, but rather a fully grown wolfnot a monster, not a science experiment, but a genuine, living wolf. You can think like a wolf thinks, see like a wolf sees, even hunt with the quiet tenacity in which a wolf hunts. And when you hunger, you will hunt. All this unfolds here, and more, as Gina becomes immersed in the Waters of Arcamo.