I came to this book by invitation to read it from the publisher, knowing of my penchant for memoirs. I also was drawn to it by its dual locations, which were the island of Ischia in Italy which is right near Naples (my best friend hails from Naples) and New York City. This accomplished author who was a writer/producer for the series "Law and Order" and authored the bestseller "Sleepers" which was made into a movie, decided to write a memoir about the three most important women who influenced his life.

I was drawn in immediately by the first third of the book where he focused on his grandmother in Italy, Nonna Maria. Lorenzo spent seven glorious summers there as a child, where he was totally enthralled and charmed by this strong, wise woman. She always had hot Italian food aplenty to serve throughout the day for any callers who might come by. A pot of espresso was ever present with small cups at the table. She had many stories to tell, such as her brave attempts to acquire food for her family during WWII, and an especially touching story of how her husband (now deceased) decided to take another baby boy (set to go to an orphanage) home with them on the day his wife was bringing home their newborn from the hospital. And stories to tell is a big theme in this book because Lorenzo dreamed of becoming a writer.

The second third of the book tells the extremely troubling story of his mother Raffaela. She began an idyllic, happy married life in Italy until it all came crashing down unexpectedly. Then a relative contacted her parents pitching a prospective husband from New York City, who in actuality was her cousin. Marrying this man was a mistake that set Raffaela up for years of isolation, misery, physical and mental injury, and financial strife. On her wedding night he confessed he had just gotten out of prison for murdering his previous wife! He was a con man who swindled people out of their money, which he then frittered away on gambling. Raffaela was living in a Hell's Kitchen cold water flat struggling to pay her bills. Once Lorenzo was old enough she began to lean on him to help with finances. But when she gazed at Lorenzo she almost hated him- because he looked just like her despicable husband. She much favored her older son, born from her first husband in Italy. Lorenzo often accompanied his Mom to the hospital when she was beat up by her husband. Sometimes, Lorenzo also suffered at the hands of his father's fists. Raffaela never learned English or tried to get a job to help her own plight, but found solace only in going to church, clutching her rosary and sitting at the kitchen table. She knew that Lorenzo dreamt of being a writer, but fretted about him doing a job that paid reliably-like working in a bank.

The third and final portion of the book centers upon meeting his future wife while working in minor roles at The Daily News. He was glad to get his foot in the door, but always looked for opportunities to push his writings for publication. He made a point to stand in coffee lines at work just to rub elbows with famous writers like Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. He never forgot the day he met Susan while waiting for an elevator. She was newly hired to head the features section at The Daily News, and he was attracted to her easy smile. Susan experienced male resentment for her prominent role at the newspaper. Lorenzo was relentless and crafty at gently approaching Susan with article ideas. She noticed his talent immediately, which she improved upon with some skilled editing. He started with a successful article about The Three Stooges, but his talent really shone when he wrote a personal article about his mother which was published in the Sunday Magazine section with photos. At first they were forced to hide the fact that they were a couple, but later married and had two children.

This was a really lovely memoir that triggered the heartstrings. Lorenzo's writing style makes for a comfortable, free flowing read. He really communicated the characters of these three very important ladies in his life so vividly, that I keep thinking about them days after reading it.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This is about the three women that had influenced his life and his writing. It’s a fitting tribute to all three. I had read his two most previous books and really enjoyed them. I had not realized all the previous books, stories, TV shows he had already done. It was an interesting book, I really enjoyed it
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

“By the time you reach my age,” he writes, “you have witnessed too much loss to not be aware of what lies ahead.”

From the author of Sleepers and an incredible body of work, Carcaterra takes us down a totally different road with Three Dreamers.

This is the homage to the three women in his life who taught him to be strong, kind as well as how to tell a killer story. We are talking about his Grandmother, Nonna Maria where he spent summers on an island called Ischia off the coast of Naples. I loved this woman. She was kind, funny, and strong. She had survived the war and come out even stronger and now she is happy to have this boy she can share her life with in the summers because she knows his home life is hard.

Rafaella, his mother, spends her days in an abusive marriage, miserable and dreading the future. She is really negative and goes through some stuff and that in itself teaches her son lessons he will need in his future.

And third, his beloved Susan. Wife, editor, and his best cheerleader. For thirty years they loved each other until her death from cancer. Their faith in each other and the complete support he found were inspiring.

What did he learn from these amazing women? Find your joy. Overcome your circumstances. Give life your all.

What a beautiful tribute to these three women. What a beautiful memoir.

NetGalley/April 27th, 2021 Random House Ballentine

Three Dreamers is a misleading title. I thought it meant three people with their heads in the clouds, but these women, though very different from each other, had their feet firmly planted on the ground. What they had in common was the inner strength to endure the unendurable, each in their own way. The writing is so lyrical and compelling that I couldn’t put it down.

Nonna - the summers spent with his grandmother in Italy helped him to know he had a family where he belonged and who loved him. His mother - brutalized by an abusive husband gave him the grit to prove to her that he wasn’t like “his father.” His wife - was his muse and co-captain. It’s hard to believe that a book with so much adversity could be such a joy to read. It felt like a hug. The author always knew he wanted to be a writer and he never gave up. This is his third published book.

Three Dreamers by Lorenzo Carcaterra is a family memoir that focuses on the three women in the author’s life that had a significant impact on him and his career. They were his maternal grandmother, Maria, his mother, Raffaela, and his wife, Susan. The book covers each of these women in succession. The author brought a strong sense of time and place to the people and events in the book.

Lorenzo met Maria Mattera Carcaterra when he was 14. It was the first time he went to the island of Ischia, 18 miles off the coast of Naples, Italy. He also met his aunts, uncles, and cousins. He visited Ischia every summer for seven years and then occasionally after that. He learned about life and forgiveness, kindness, doing the right thing, humor, being determined and focused, and to never to turn your back on someone in need. He also experienced family love and true happiness for the first time.

His mother, Raffaela, was another matter. She was in a loveless marriage, faced domestic abuse, and lived in fear of being killed. I didn’t connect with her because <spoiler> she put up with physical abuse from Lorenzo’s father, Mario, for herself and for Lorenzo. Additionally she expected Lorenzo to earn money even when going to school to pay off his father’s gambling debts. She never looked for a job for herself. She also favored Lorenzo’s half-brother from her first marriage</spoiler>. What Raffaela did was give Lorenzo the desire to work harder, write better, and not let anyone stop him.

Lorenzo and Susan met when both worked at the same newspaper. They first become friends and co-workers before they married. She always believed in his writing ability and urged him to keep at it, even in bleak financial times. She believed in him. With Susan, he found out what a good marriage was like. This section of the book also covers Lorenzo’s career and the birth of their two children.

Those that enjoy memoirs or the author’s books will likely enjoy this book. I don’t read a lot of memoirs, but I connected with this one. I loved reading about Maria and Susan. I will remember this book for a long time. It brought a variety of emotions to the surface.

Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Lorenzo Carcaterra provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for April 27, 2021.

There were, according to the author, three women in his life who made him the man and the writer he became: his grandmother, his mother and his wife.

Clearly, the author is wistful about all three and the impact they had on him. This is a memoir that answers the age old question: how does a writer become a writer? Lorenzo Carcaterra answers the questions the only way he knows how--with stories.

The stories of all the women in his life are sweet, sometimes cloyingly so, but why not? All three have passed on and it's clear the author owes them a debt. Interestingly, they are all so different. His grandmother is described as a brazen woman who rarely left the island of her birth, Ischia. His mother is brave enough to stand up to her abusive husband who killed his first wife. And Carcaterra's wife Susan takes what the other two wrought and shapes and prods her husband into reaching his potential and beyond.

One gets the feeling that, as influential as the first two women in his life were, Carcaterra would never have done what he's done without his dear wife Susan.

Behind every successful man is a woman; behind this writer, there are three.

Wonderful story development, rich characters, and a plot that hooks you and never lets you go. I love it when I can immerse myself within a book and just forget about real life for awhile and “become” a part of the story. This book totally delivered!

I picked this one as my "women's month" choice and I admittedly wasn't familiar with the author prior to reading it (I generally don't read thrillers!). This was a loving memoir written as an ode to the women who influenced the author throughout his life. Each woman was vastly different! It made me reflect on the women who have influenced my life as well. It also made me think about how different people react to hardships and what influences play into it. Some claim defeat while others use it as motivation. I may go back and read the book that he wrote about his father too.

I recently was offered the opportunity to check out an advanced copy of Three Dreamers by Lorenzo Carcaterra. I’ve read many of Carcaterras books, fiction and non-fiction, and enjoyed them all, so of course, I accepted the offer.
Three Dreamers is a memoir of sorts. It’s an ode to the three women who had the most influence in Carcaterra’s life – his grandmother, his mother and his wife. For those of you who know nothing about Lorenzo Carcaterra, life was not always kind to the author. As a young boy, he lived in a volatile household rife with verbal and physical abuse. His father had killed his first wife and was almost equally intent on killing his second wife. When he wasn’t beating on her, he was gambling away what little money he earned, leading to more arguments and more physical abuse.
As a teenager, Lorenzo was sent to spend the summer with his Italian grandmother. Nonna Maria gave him a sense of stability and life in Italy offered him a sense of what home life should be like with no stress and no angry words or fists. In addition to the love and kindness he experienced with his grandmother, Lorenzo learned just what kind of woman Nonna Maria really was. During World War II, Nonna Maria was a driving force on the island of Ischia, showing strength and fortitude while making daily trips for food and supplies in Nazi-occupied territory. She lost people close to her, but never turned bitter and always showed a strength that made her a pillar in her community.
Lorenzo did not have the same relationship with his mother Raffaela. Though he confesses that he loves the woman, theirs was a relationship filled with anger, resentment, and regret. Raffaela was tricked into marriage with Lorenzo’s father. World War II left Raffaela a widow with a young boy to take care of and her father’s side of the family matched her to an American. It was only when she moved to America that she learned the mistake she had made. Her new husband was a drinker, a gambler and physically abusive. She would later learn that he killed his first wife when she threatened to leave him. When Lorenzo was born, she felt trapped. Her oldest son had to move away to be safe from his stepfather’s tirades and all she ever saw when she looked at Lorenzo was the trap she could never get out of. And yet, it was his mother who made him determined to make something of his life.
Lorenzo met his wife Susan while working at the Daily News. She was the first person who wasn’t family who believed in his dream of becoming a writer. Throughout their marriage she pushed him to tell the stories he had within him to tell. She always believed in him and stood by him through it all, even while struggling with her own demon – cancer. Before she died, she made Lorenzo promise her one thing – that he would keep writing.
Three Dreamers is a beautiful tale of how three very different women shaped Lorenzo Carcaterra into the man and the author he is today. Nonna Maria showed him strength and love and the gift of storytelling. Raffaela helped nurture that stubborn streak and his anger at his mother fed his desire to better himself. Susan nurtured the writer inside while giving him the loving family he had always hoped for. Lorenzo’s gift for storytelling allows you to see everything vividly through his eyes. His descriptiveness makes the scenes in the book come alive and his love for each woman will leave you looking for a tissue box in the end. A great addition to Carcaterra’s nonfiction work!

The Three Dreamers is beautifully written. It made me think not only about the influence these three women had on the author's life, but also about the women who have influenced my own life. I find myself pondering why some people can rise above difficult upbringings and how others cannot. It makes me think about just how much society's norms have changed. The Three Dreamers is a book that I need to discuss with others. I will be recommending it to friends, family, and my book discussion group.

A beautiful and heartwarming story of the three women who influenced the author’s life the most. I have read other books by this author and loved those too, although they were mysteries. This story made me think of those in my life who have had a great impact on my life.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A lovely book the authors ode to his grandmother,mother and his wife.The author usually writes thrillers this memoir is a warm funny sweet change a memoir about these women who totally influenced his life.I enjoyed reading about his family and his life..#netgalley #randomhouse.

I wish to thank NetGalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Everyone has their own story and most people think strangers would not be interested in theirs. This book proves that nothing is further from the truth.

This is a family memoir of the author and three women who had extremely profound effects on his life. We are introduced to Lorenzo’s early life and the very difficult times he had in Hell’s Kitchen. His father was an abusive, alcoholic, con-artist who was unable or unwilling to keep a job. His mother was emotionally abusive and accepted the abuse and unwilling to do anything about it even when it spilled over to her son.

Next we meet Nonna, his Italian Grandmother. He spends 7 summers with her in Italy. He meets family and learns what a loving family really is. It is with a heavy heart that he was required to return home at the end of each summer. Nonna was a story teller and encouraged his appetite for story telling. He forges strong bonds with all his Italian family.

Later in the book you will travel his employment path as he enters the world of journalism. He meets his future wife who encourages him to write for publication in newspapers, magazines, books or whatever he wants to do. She is his editor, soul mate and best friend. This book confirms that whatever is going on in a person’s life can be overcome if the person wants to change and grow beyond humble beginnings. You travel his past of great sadness and great happiness and in the end you believe that good things can happen to good people. I loved it and thank him for allowing me to make his journey with him. The story is brilliantly written and I know lots of people in heaven are smiling. I highly recommend this one.

Carcaterra’s new book is a live letter to the three defining women of his life: his Nonna Maria in Italy, his mother, and his wife.

Nonna Maria gave him love and stability as he escaped his violent, abusive parents during summers in Italy. His mother was physically abused by his father — as he was — but never seemed to realize that she was emotionally abusive to her son. His wife was his best friend, and created a world of love and support until she died of cancer.

With clear eyed attention to the flaws and beauty of each woman, Carcaterra has created a memoir worth reading, savoring, and thinking about long after the last page. Highly recommended.

Three Dreamers is a tribute to the the author’s grandmother, mother, and wife. Women who were strong and faced the adversity in their lives with different approaches. His gramd,other enriched him with family stories and strength of character. His mother showed him how to love with pain and misery. His wife taught him what a good marriage looks like. The most difficult parts to read were the ones with his mother. She openly favored his older brother and reviled him. I was actually surprised he didn’t feel more resentment and negativity toward his mother. I think his grandmother and wife had the most influence over him. I liked reading about the family history.

A surprisingly interesting book that was well written. I really felt like Lorenzo was open and honest with his storytelling.

What a beautiful story as Lorenzo Carcaterra honors the loving women in his life with this memoir. I never realized what a life he had very early growing up in New York City. It was so enjoyable learning about the 7 years that he spent summers back in Ischia, Italy getting to know and learn all about his Nonna Maria. As he gradually discovers her heroic deeds during the war, through stories told by people on the island, a huge respect grows for this fabulous lady. She would never be so bold as to talk about herself, she prefers to remain quiet, calmly sipping her espresso, strong, with lots of sugar.

The next woman is his mother, Raffaella. He’s much more familiar with her life, since he grew up in it and suffered along with her. His father became their common enemy as he made their life a long, slow, living hell. Which is why Raffaella sought to send Lorenzo off to Ischia for summers in his teens, so he could see a different kind of life. To find for himself that things are not all misery and debt. And the third woman is Lorenzo’s wife Susan, who stayed by his side and believed in him and his talent. If you enjoy memoirs, and this author’s work, you might want to check this book out. I’m glad I did. I’d begun to forget how good a writer he is. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Lorenzo Carcaterra, and the publisher.

Lorenzo Carcaterra generally writes thrillers, procedurals and mysteries. Three Dreamers is nothing like them. It is his story about the three women in his life who had the most influence on him. First, his grandmother, Nona Maria, second, his Mother, Raffaela and finally, his wife, Susan. He is the only thing these women had in common. Each one and her relationship to him is a story in itself and the three compiled make for wonderful reading. I won’t tell you anymore about their stories, but will let you discover them for yourselves. Thanks to Net Galley, Ballantine and the author for an ARC for an honest review.

He writes lovingly about the three key women in his life. His grandmother, mother and wife. His difficult childhood was eased by his summers in Ischia with his Nonna, who was not only strong, but very clear about right and wrong, and about the importance of family. Those summers shaped him and allowed him to get out from under his abusive father. His mother, who had been married to his father under a number of false premises, felt she had to stay in the abusive marriage to protect her two children – one by a previous husband who was killed in the war, and Lorenzo, the product of her new marriage. But her feeling that Lorenzo took hisi father’s side, and her need to protect her older son, colored their relationship for decades. Still, she allowed him to pursue his dreams of being a writer. Finally, his wife, a reporter and editor, was the rock on which he was able to build a career, first as a journalist and then as a novelist. He writes with great passion, and yet novelistically – so that it’s a can’t put down memoir. Worth readiing and a clue to the stories he has told so well in his novels.

Sweet memoir with happy memories of strong women. This book was sent to me for free by Netgalley for review. It was on my Kindle IPad. This is a book that many can relate to as mothers and grandmothers bring fond memories. Memoirs are often boring as the writer tends to go on about certain events but this one doesn’t do that. It keeps the reader wondering what next...try it...