First published 2004
Salvo Usari stands nearly 1,400 feet above New York City streets in 1976, balanced on a wire stretched between the World Trade Center towers. This moment caps a journey that began in 1919 Transylvania, where nine-year-old Salvo learned the myths of his Romany people from his father Miksa. A church accident shatters his world, leading to his parents' murder and separation from his brother and sister. Salvo climbs the church steeple, tears out his soul toward God, and begins years of wandering. The scattered Usari siblings eventually reunite as tightrope walkers in America's Fisher-Fielding circus, achieving fame through their act. Yet tragedy strikes again, claiming more family members. Salvo must return to the wire alone, seeking peace for his restless mind through the only art that has sustained him.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: New York City, Transylvania
Period: 1919, 1976
256 pages · Paperback · Grupo Ilhsa S.A.
Content warnings: murder