Sonny’s Vendetta is a character-rich tale about Sonny’s (a South Philly Italian Restaurant), the Valmontis who have owned it for 75 years, and a century-old vendetta which they never knew existed, but which found them anyway. There’s intrigue. There’s humor, and there’s garlic bread. C’mon. Who doesn’t like garlic bread?
Sonny’s Vendetta is a character-rich tale about Sonny’s (a South Philly Italian Restaurant), the Valmontis who have owned it for 75 years, and a century-old vendetta which they never knew existed, but which found them anyway. There’s intrigue. There’s humor, and there’s garlic bread. C’mon. Who doesn’t like garlic bread?
In 1915 Italy, a teenaged girl believed she had conjured the perfect lie to protect herself. Even though she deserved the full weight of responsibility for her foolish recklessness, the lie deftly deflected all blame to her innocent, oblivious best friend, Fredo.
It took more than a century, but the lie-fueled vendetta her father declared reached its climax four thousand miles away in South Philadelphia, that city’s Italian enclave and epicenter of the hullabaloo between the Valmontis and their mysterious enemy.
Sonny’s, a neighborhood Italian restaurant named for Fredo’s son, John Sr., operated without incident by three generations of Valmontis for 75 years. When Sonny’s transformed from a family eatery to a battleground, Fredo’s grandson, John Jr., became the key to his family’s fate.
Sonny’s Vendetta offers an enticing mix of character-rich and humorous tales of intrigue, old world grudges, friendship, family, Sunday Gravy and meatballs. Join John Jr. as he comes home to find his world and family in shambles and joins forces with a well-connected uncle, an elderly family attorney, and several lifelong friends to figure out what’s going on, to recoup his legacy and to stay alive … not necessarily in that order.
Praise for Sonny’s Vendetta
“Attiani has the wit and wisdom to tell a good story. With Sonny’s Vendetta, my prayers have been answered.”
“Having known Mike since childhood and his understanding of the city, its people and the passions they possess, I can’t wait to see this story unfold.”
“Great slice of South Philly life with captivating characters, complicated relationships, and just the right amounts of intrigue and revenge to make everything boil over.”
Why I wrote this book:
I love a good story, and for me, it usually begins as a kernel of an idea in a daydream and develops into a complex tale with interesting characters and dialog and plot twists and funny anecdotes and food. That’s how Sonny’s came to life. It started out as a recipe book of my family’s favorites, and ended up as a saga of intrigue, and deception, filled with characters you’d see on any street corner in South Philly (where Philadelphia keeps its Italians). The story draws upon my years working in restaurants, the countless days I’ve spent in my city, and ultimately, my love for family and food.
For the record, my family came from the same town in Italy as the characters in the story, and there really was a restaurant named Sonny’s, owned by my grandfather, and named for my Pop. Most of the rest of Sonny’s Vendetta is pure fiction, with a sprinkling of real-life anecdotes thrown in for flavor.
Sonny’s Vendetta is an homage to my family, and especially my Pop, whom I adored and miss every single day.
I hope you enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Michael Attiani
About Michael Attiani
Mike Attiani grew up in suburban Philly, is a die-hard Philly sports fan (emphasis on “hard”), and has an accent like Rocky Balboa, only not as genteel. His family is originally from Italy. He is innately sarcastic and tends to make jokes at the most inopportune times, like during Sunday mass, or a funeral – pretty much any time there’s an audience. His parents learned early on that shushing him is fruitless, but having him sit on his hands renders him mute because he can’t speak without them.
For all his foibles (and there are many, just ask his kids), Mike is a hard worker who started bussing tables at 14, waiting tables through college, and did other glamorous things like digging ditches and myriad other hand-bruising endeavors.
Today, Mike has a day job, a wife, two boys and four dogs. He enjoys being active – skiing, driving fast cars on race tracks and traveling – but he also enjoys sitting on a sofa eating snacks and watching ball games on TV.