A gritty story of a woman learning to survive in 20th century Gangland New York...

In early 20th-century Sicily, noblewoman Mimi Inglese, a talented painter, dreams of escaping the rigid expectations of her class by gaining admission to the Palermo Art Academy. But when she contracts tuberculosis, her ambitions are shattered. With the Sicilian nobility in decline, she and her family leave for New York City in search of a fresh start.

Instead of opportunity, Mimi is pulled into the dark underbelly of city life and her father’s money laundering scheme. When he is sent to prison, desperation forces her to put her artistic talent to a new use—counterfeiting $5 bills to keep her family from starvation and, perhaps, to one day reclaim her dream of painting. But as Gangland violence escalates and tragedy strikes, Mimi must summon the courage to flee before she is trapped forever in a life she never wanted.

Advance Praise for Seeds of the Pomegranate: A Novel

“A riveting and intelligent novel with a powerful message”

—Kirkus Reviews

“In Samuels’s impressive debut, an artist reckons with illness and loss while pursuing her career in early 1900s Sicily and New York City.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A rich debut about immigration, the intersection of art and commerce, and what we are willing to sacrifice for family.”

—Laura Spence-Ash, author of Beyond That, the Sea

“In luminous prose, Samuels weaves the myth of Persephone in the Underworld through this tale of art and love surviving repression and familial obligations. A remarkable debut.”

—Julia Park Tracey, author of Silence and The Bereaved​
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Meet Novelist Suzanne Uttaro Samuels​ ​ READ MORE

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About the Author Suzanne Uttaro Samuels’ award-winning stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and print and online literary magazines. Seeds of the Pomegranate is her debut novel. The prequel to Seeds, The Orphans’ Wheel, set during the tumultuous 19th-century Italian Wars of Independence, is forthcoming from Sibylline Press. A lifelong resident of New York City, Suzanne now resides in the Adirondack Mountains.

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Catch Suzanne from coast to coast!

Tuesday, September 2 – 6pm LAUNCH: Suzanne Uttaro Samuels in Conversation with Amy Catania on History, Fiction, and Tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, NY ​LEARN MORE​

Wednesday, September 3 – 7:30pm Celebrate the Launch of Suzanne Uttaro Samuels’ Seeds of the Pomegranate on Zoom! ​LEARN MORE​

Saturday, September 13, 1pm Walking Tour with Suzanne Uttaro Samuels: Strikes, Secrets, and Survival: A Lower East Side Walking Tour ​LEARN MORE​

Sunday, September 14 – 2pm Suzanne Uttaro Samuels in Conversation with Laura Spence-Ash at The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood in NJ ​LEARN MORE​

Thursday, September 18 – 7pm Italian-American Immigrant Dreams: A Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event ft. Suzanne Uttaro Samuels ​LEARN MORE​

Saturday, September 20 – 1pm Stairs of Separation: Ellis Island Tour with Suzanne Uttaro Samuels ​LEARN MORE​

Friday, October 3 – 6pm Suzanne Uttaro Samuels Brings Seeds of the Pomegranate to Belmont Books in Belmont, MA ​LEARN MORE​

Thursday, November 6 – 6pm Four Sibyls Bring Their Novels to Broadway Books in Portland, OR ​LEARN MORE​

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