S. Gagliano & Son has been a barbershop fixture in South Philly for decades. Frankie and Michael Gagliano’s Italian immigrant father—Luigi to his customers, Papa to his sons—presides over the store, enlisting his children as soon as they’re big enough to wield a broom. On their mother’s deathbed, eight-year-old Frankie swears that he and his little brother will always take care of each other, a vow he endeavors to keep through their father’s violent outbursts and the string of wives who try to take their mother’s place.
After their father’s death, Frankie takes over the shop, transforming it to fit in with the gentrifying neighborhood. Michael becomes a successful prosecutor with a rising political career, still close to his big brother despite the differences between them. Then comes an unthinkable, impulsive act that will force Michael to choose between risking his comfortable life and keeping a sacred oath—made before he knew how powerful a promise can be.
The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter is a stunning evocation of working-class Italian-American life—a story of brotherhood, loyalty, and the contradictory, unpredictable nature of family love.
Please turn the page for an exciting sneak peek of
Tom Mendicino’s newest novel,
The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents mentioned in this work are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. In some instances, characters may bear resemblance to public figures. In such instances, corresponding story details are invented. All other references in the book to persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. This book contains references to certain publicly reported events. Such references are based solely on publicly available records and reports and are not intended to report additional or contrary factual information.
There were two brothers called Both and Either;
perceiving Either was a good, understanding, busy fellow,
and Both a silly fellow good for little, King Philip said,
“Either is both, and Both is neither.”
—Sayings of Kings and Commanders,
attributed to Plutarch
. . . and remember, a boy who won’t be good
might just as well be made of wood.
—The Blue Fairy