A moving tribute to the women who loved and provided him with the courage to be a man they would be proud to call grandson, son and husband. This book should come with a warning.....tissues required.

I have enjoyed a couple of books written by Lorenzo Carcaterra. But I was unaware that this was a memoir. What a moving and beautiful dedication to three amazing women in his life. His grandmother, mother, and wife influenced and helped him become the man he is today. Very touching and memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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A sweet memoir/tribute to the three women who most influenced the author's life -- his grandmother, his mother, and his wife. This is a very personal memoir that will touch your heart. I'm sure his family will greatly appreciate his stories and his analysis of why and how these women set him on a path as a successful author.

I usually love memoirs, and there are moments of wonder and some beautifully written passages here. It is so deeply personal, though, that it feels intrusive and I'm not sure there is much appeal for a wider audience. This was obviously a labor of love and one that required a great amount of self-reflection and introspection. This is not a typical "celebrity" memoir -- no shocking/graphic sexual content or non-stop name dropping -- just a collection of memories about influences in this writer's life. I enjoyed the book, but I' would have difficulty recommending it to the average reader. But I do want to take a trip to Ischia; the author's descriptions of this Italian island make it sound ideal!! .

Beautifully written, Lorenzo Carceterra pays tribute to the three women in her life. Nonna Maria, his mother, and his wife. This book is a lot different from his thriller books, but it's Pontiac with perfect prose that keeps you thinking about his life.

What a captivating tale of three strong but very different women and how circumstances of history and love shapes our lives. The descriptions of Ischia were remarkable too.

When Lorenzo was 14 he as sent to Italy to visit his Grandmother and the rest of his extended family. Those were wonderful summers. She showed him what real love and family could be.He loved hearing her stories.
When he returned home to New York he had to face a mother who resented him and an abusive father. He loved his mother but it wasn’t enough.
Lorenzo loved stories so he decided to try his hand at writing. Starting out at the local newspaper gave him the break he was looking for.
After hopping around some newspapers and magazines he met an editor who appreciated his writing and encouraged him to believe in himself.Soon they were spending time together.
This is a very heartwarming story of family and forgiveness and the three women who shaped his life.

Lorenzo Carcaterra realizes that at his age, it is easier to look back than forward. So he looks back at the important women in his life, From his grandmother to his third wife. He tells us how his life has changed with each of these women in his life.

"Behind every great man..." Yes this book was beautiful. he writes of the three main women in his life and how each affected him. Simple and beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The stories were compelling and the descriptions of New York and Italy were so realistic. The love of the 3 women he writes about shines through. I loved that he doesn't hesitate to point out their mistakes and faults but it is always clear how much they mean to him. This book is a true tribute to three woman and the things they endured.

This book was a beautiful tribute to Carcaterra's grandmother, mother and wife. His grandmother helped him through a difficult home life. His mother was abused, and through her he found the strength to find a better life. His wife helped him see his potential as a writer. All three women defined him, and I enjoyed his memoir.

This book is a tribute to the three women that have shaped the authors life, but it is also a love story, and a growing up story. At the face of the title one would think it would be a dry read listing the accomplishments of these women and so on , more of a clinical thing....alas I am happy to sat this is a delightful read.
I would love to have met his Italian grandmother who said little but demonstrated love overwhelmingly.
Or his long suffering mother..losing the love of her life before they could really start on the road of marriage and then making a decision that literally controlled the rest of her life
Or his lovely, thoughtful wife who was talented and oh such an anchor for him.
This a great read.

Lorenzo Carcaterra didn't have a good childhood in the United States but when he was sent to Italy for the summer life blossomed for him. He experienced family, love, freedom, friends, and a different way of life. Spending time with his philosophical Italian Grandmother painted how life should be lived. He could spend his time safe on an island filled with relatives. Though he chose to stay at his grandmother's home, he was welcomed into the homes of every family member. He made friends. He learned about the religion of his family. He saw dedication through his grandmother's words and love for her husband. In the months other than the summer he experienced a mother who loved his brother and did everything for him, leaving Lorenzo wondering what he had done to deserve this life. He lived for his summers and his time spent in love

Wonderfully written with words that draw the picture of the life most of us want.

When I first looked at this memoir, I had no idea who Lorenzo Carcaterra was. I’m not sure where I first heard about the book, but it appealed to me, even though I read very few memoirs. I was drawn to it because I thought it was such a lovely thing to pay tribute to the women in his life . The epigraph encompasses the spirt of this book: “Men’s minds are raised to the level of the women with whom they associate.” (Alexandre Dumas)

Carcaterra lovingly writes of the “three very strong-willed and determined women” in his life. His Nonna Maria was a generous, kind, strong, woman who gave him sensible advice filled with love and a gift of her stories. He describes summers with his grandmother on the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, as the “happiest period of my life”, but yet there was always “a sense of dread” over what might be happening with his parents in New York. Raffaella, his mother is stuck in a marriage with a lying, abusive husband. Her wish for Lorenzo is to find a better life and be a different man than his father. His feelings for his mother at times are ambivalent. He’s angry at her inability to move from the abusive relationship and other times feels helpless over not being able to protect her. What a sad life she lived, but yet Lorenzo took wisdom from her to move forward. Susan, his late wife of thirty years was supportive and loving. A sad time in his life when he loses her, but such a beautiful reflection of a loving, caring relationship. It’s an ode to the three women in his life who influenced him, loved him and helped him become the man that he is. Beautiful, sad at times, but always filled with love and hope. If his success as an author, tv writer, editor , loving husband and father is seen in the light of what these women gave to him, they indeed did so much for him.

I received a copy of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

This memoir reads like a novel and as always, Lorenzo Carcaterra grabs you and doesn’t let go until the very last word of the acknowledgements! I had to keep reminding myself that #threedreamersamemoiroffamily was not fiction but an accounting of an actual persons life. Like his fiction this book is hard to put down and harder to see end. I’m so thankful to have read it. I received a copy from #netgalley and the publisher to read in exchange for my honest review. Even if memoirs are not your favorite I think you will like this one.

A powerful, well written story about the three women in his life who shaped him to be the man he is today.

I have to admit I really only skimmed this book. I enjoy a good memoir, but this one just never grabbed me enough to invest a full on read. It's very well written, but it just didn't hold my interest.

A beautiful book, a sad book, a book written with sensitivity, vulnerability, honesty and love. The three women who shaped his life, the good and the bad. His Nonna, it is with her in Italy that he spent summers from the age of fourteen. Here he found family, friendship, love and acceptance. A wonderful woman to whom family meant everything. A strong woman who kept her family alive after the Nazi invasion during WWII. She showed Lorenzo what it means to love and through her he learned much about his family background.

The parts with his mother were hard to read, hard not to judge this woman despite the horrific circumstances under which she lived. She taught Lorenzo the power of story and story telling, showed him how not to be and gave him the impetus to escape. Lastly his wife Susan, who gave him acceptance, encouragement, his own family and unbounded love.

It made me think of the people who formed who I am, I too had wonderful grandparents without whom I would not be the same person.

ARC from Netgalley.

Author Lorenzo Carcaterra’s beautiful tribute to the three women that defined his life is an engagingly interesting read. From the first pages, I was drawn into his world as a first generation American. At sixty-six, he has experienced good and evil in his life and knows of loss and uncertainty. That said, he chooses “…to not dwell on it and enjoy what’s left of life.” So, the story of his life, and the three women that influenced him begins.

Nonna Maria is his maternal grandmother. She lives on the island of Ischia, just off the coast of Italy. Carcaterra is a teen headed for trouble when his mother sends him to live with Nonna Maria for the summer. There he finds himself surrounded by family and love. His mother never learned English so he grew up speaking Italian at home in New York. It is easy for him to assimilate and communicate with his Italian family. On this tiny island he learned of his past and started forming his future.

Raffaela is Carcaterra’s mother. She is unhappy with her choice of a second husband. He is a cruel man. They are always in debt; he abuses his wife as well as his son and deals in illegal activities. Sadly, Raffaela does not leave him or shelter her son from his abuse. She depends upon Lorenzo to translate, pay the bills and in return she tells him how disappointed she is to have him for a son.

Susan is the woman he loves. She is nothing like his mother, nor is she like his grandmother. She works at the same newspaper as Carcaterra. He is instantly drawn to her, but as his editor, their relationship was strictly platonic. He wants to write features, but is stuck typing up movie times. When he approaches her with an idea for a story, she agrees to give him a chance. So begins the relationship that will turn into love and marriage.

Three Dreamers is a work of non-fiction that reads like a novel. It is painful, beautiful and at times tragic. The lives of the three women that shaped the author’s life are interesting and diverse, and each of them contribute to the author’s life as no one else can.

Lorenzo Carcaterra is a #1 New York Times best-selling author. Formerly a writer/producer for Law & Order, I imagine most of us have seen his work and not realized it. He has also written for several award-winning magazines such as National Geographic Traveler and Maxim.

If you only chose to read one new author that you have never read before, I highly recommend Three Dreamers. I can’t wait to read his novels as well.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2021 Laura Hartman

𝖳𝗋𝗎𝗍𝗁 𝖡𝗈𝗆𝖻: 𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍. 𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖺𝖽𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾.

𝖠𝖻𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗉𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗆𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐 (on my blog - The Kendall Edit) 𝗈𝖿 𝖳𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝖣𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗌: 𝖠 𝖬𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗂𝗋 𝗈𝖿 𝖥𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒 𝖻𝗒 𝖭𝖾𝗐 𝖸𝗈𝗋𝗄 𝖳𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝖡𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗌𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗋 𝖫𝗈𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗓𝗈 𝖢𝖺𝗋𝖼𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗋𝖺 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝖲𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗌, 𝖲𝗍𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖡𝗈𝗒𝗌, 𝖦𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌. .

𝖳𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝖣𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗂𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝗒 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗂𝗋𝗌. 𝖨𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝖾 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗋se 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗌𝖼𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rarely does a memoir pack an incredible punch to your gut like Three dreamers. I can only liken it to the author being in a boxing ring. The problems he endured felt almost physical to me, and I reveled every time he took a punch and was able to get back up. The characters were so complex that you had to take a deep breath while reading some of the chapters.

This is one of the few books in my lifetime that I will never forget, nor would I wish to.
Mr. Carcaterra, I salute you!