The Inglese—the English guy—of this real-life story marries into an Italian family and is gently pulled into the Court of the Patriarch, playfully named Garibaldi. He is transformed by his father-in-law and given the name Il Vagabondo. Thus begins the acute observance of an enchanted landscape in North York that could be anywhere: one that exists beyond the barriers of language, where a backyard, a hometown, a garden or a cantina become the living stage for dance, marches, and serenades of love and grief, gusto and suffering.

The book is loosely structured as an Italian opera told across a series of acts and scenes, with two intermissions and three curtain calls, in which the author and the reader are introduced to the love and passion of his adopted Italian family.

“Come with me to Garibaldi’s Court and I will tell you tales of gusto and enchantment. We will sing, dance, laugh, weep and eat polenta at midnight al fresco. I promise you homemade red wine and frittata. Have some more. For me! We will work hard and then we will rest.”

Author Glenn Carley was born in Trenton Ontario. He is the author of Polenta at Midnight: Tales of Gusto and Enchantment in North York (Vehicule Press, 2007), and Good Enough From Here (Rock's Mills Press, 2020) His stories have appeared in Italian Canadians at Table: A Narrative Feast in Five Courses (Guernica Editions, 2013) and in Accenti Magazine. Il Vagabondo: An Urban Opera is his third book. A retired chief social worker, Glenn lives in Bolton Ontario with his wife, Mary. Their family is blessed with a daughter, son, and daughter-in-law.

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