The Malandrine: a novel

Malandrine is Italian slang for a malicious troublemaker, and it's a concept that Italian brothers Rino and Lou Bellanca know all too well. The children of immigrants, Rino and Lou grew up in hard times during the Great Depression. Their family had to struggle just to have enough food to eat. After their service in World War II, they returned home to work and had side jobs that helped them save money and invest it in small business ventures.Though they were wealthy, both brothers were fulfilled by work. So in retirement, Lou continued his longtime sideline of shoemaker, and Rino was employed as a maintenance man at Spring Common University.Rino manages to become an enemy of a young superstar professor whose life's ambition is for the presidency of one of the country's great universities. Rino also becomes acquainted with a young widow whose husband was a professor there. It's the beginning of a love story. But tragedy haunts the Bellanca family in a sudden and unforeseen way, and Rino realizes that money can't save him from the consequences of life. His world is in disarray, and he realizes that his sole consolation is revenge upon the "malandrine" professor who caused him such anguish.