Book Launch: Steve Capelin’s Paradiso

Written by a great grandson of Lorenzo and based on true events, Paradiso is a heart rending and timeless story of emigrant dreams. In 1880 Lorenzo Perin, wife Caterina, and children Domenico and Marietta, join 300 fellow Italians to escape poverty and follow their dream of establishing a utopian Catholic community in the Pacific. There are barriers at every turn. The Italian and French authorities refuse travel papers and support. An ill-equipped ship, moored in Barcelona, is promised by the French promoter of the scheme. At sea, the situation quickly deteriorates. Marietta learns she has strengths she never imagined. Domenico is enthralled by the exotic ports they visit. Caterina suffers from a mystery illness and carries a secret. After 100 days, the surviving emigrants arrive at New Ireland, in New Guinea, where they attempt to establish a colony in the jungle. After petitioning Governor Parkes in New south Wales, Australia finally welcomes the refugees and their new life as accidental Autralians begins. Steve Capelin spent his childhood roaming the backstreets of suburban Morningside in Brisbane. He survived a Catholic upbringing and scraped into the University of Queensland where he studied Economics, the course with the least number of contact hours, where he was captivated by the politics of the late 60s and the thriving cultural life on campus. He has a passion for local community and local history and has written Paradiso, a novel based on the true story of his Italian great grandfather’s flawed dream of utopia.