Youthanasia

By Loretta Giacoletto

Subtle horror for Halloween. Lidia and Simon Drago are living their last hoorah, a European vacation financed by insurance money they received when their house burned down. On the night train from Paris to Florence they encounter a stranger who directs them to a lovely pensione in Florence. There, a clever artist agrees to depict the Dragos not as they look now but how they appeared in their prime.
If only Lidia and Simon hadn't talked to the stranger, or taken his advice about the pensione. If only they hadn't been so vain, wanting to recapture their youth so their unborn grandchild would know how glamorous they'd been in their youth--a younger version of JFK and Jackie. If only Lidia could convince the artist Peppe to give her and Simon another chance. If only ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marelwood Publishing
• Release date: May 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458062215

Loretta Giacoletto

Loretta Giacoletto was named a finalist in the 2015 and 2014 "Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project" for her sagas, Family Deceptions and Chicago's Headmistress. She divides her time between Southern Illinois and Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks where she writes fiction, essays, and her blog Loretta on Life while her husband cruises the waters for bass and crappie. Their five children have left the once chaotic nest but occasionally return for her to-die-for ravioli and roasted peppers topped with garlic-laden bagna càuda. An avid traveler, she has visited countries in Europe and Asia but Italy remains her favorite, especially the area from where her family originates: the Piedmont region near the Italian Alps. Her novels are filled with bawdy characters caught up in problems they must suffer the consequences for having created. ITALY TO DIE FOR, from her Savino Sisters Mystery Series, shows how too much togetherness can spell disaster for two thirty-something sisters vacationing in Italy. In LETHAL PLAY a grieving widow is suspected of killing her son's coach, a man with more enemies than friends. FAMILY DECEPTIONS follows two generations of earthy characters who learn to thrive and survive through a series of misdeeds, the worst against those they love the most. FREE DANNER features a cynical young man whose troubled past and deadly encounters hinder his search for the father he has yet to meet. THE FAMILY ANGEL is an Italian/American saga about the an immigrant family of bootleggers, coalminers, winemakers and priests, and a mysterious black angel who enjoys sticking his nose in the family business. The previously mentioned CHICAGO'S HEADMISTRESS, a prequel and partial parallel to THE FAMILY ANGEL, follows a 1905 Italian street urchin's notorious rise to wealth and power as the headmistress of Night School, Prohibition Chicago's most popular and innovative men's club in the 1920s. Loretta is also the author of A COLLECTION OF GIVERS AND TAKERS, twisted stories about the good, the bad, the self-centered and disillusioned In addition to the horror anthologies, Damned in Dixie and Hell in the Heartland, Loretta's short stories have appeared in a number of publications including The MacGuffin, Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, The Scruffy Dog Review, Allegory and Literary Mama, which nominated her story "Tom" for Dzanc's Best of The Web.

Book preview

Simon and I were sitting at a sidewalk table on St. Germain, lunching on roast veal stuffed with wild mushrooms, when I suggested we stay in Paris for another two weeks.

Give me a break, he said. Strolling around the neighborhood is bad enough but my knees can’t take any more hiking back and forth across the Seine. He cleaned the sauce from my plate with a bread heel, popped it in his mouth, and chewed through his next words. What’s more, I hate being a party pooper but this rich food is playing hell with my stomach.

In other words, you’re ready for Italy.

Only if you agree, my love. I just thought a change of scenery might invigorate us. You know, add some bounce to the old joints.

Did he think the cobblestones in Tuscany would be easier to navigate than those in Paris, or the Italian spring waters would cure his arthritis? Simon just couldn’t stay put for any length of time and I didn’t feel up to packing again. As usual, I gave in.

That afternoon we checked out of our hotel and six hours later we were aboard the Palatino when it left Paris. No sooner had we settled in our cabin than a waiter came by and took our dinner order. We endured an hour of hunger pangs before wandering through the train in search of our three-course meal, only to find the dining car already jammed with passengers. Simon used his charm and ten euros to garner us the only remaining table. As the train rolled through the French countryside, we sat across from each other, admiring the sun setting over hills and valleys as fertile as those in the Midwest, but when a damp chill surged through my bones, I turned from the window and looked up. Towering over us was a refined gentleman, with silver hair matching his trimmed goatee and a European-tailored gray suit emphasizing his trim physique. He spoke with an indiscernible accent, his voice soothing but not enough to warm the chill I still felt.

"Scusi, Signore, Signora. Parlate