TY - BOOK AU - Beach,Rex TI - The Net AV - PS PY - 2004/// CY - Salt Lake City, UT PB - Project Gutenberg KW - Sicily (Italy) -- Fiction KW - Mafia -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- Fiction KW - Italian Americans -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- Fiction N1 - Release date is 2004-08-01; Produced by Beth Constantine, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team; Original publication data not identified N2 - "The Net" by Rex Beach is a novel likely written during the early 20th century. The story centers around Norvin Blake, an American who travels to Sicily to attend the wedding of his close friend Martel Savigno, but soon finds himself entangled in the dark undercurrents of Sicilian society, including themes of love, loyalty, and the pervasive influence of the Mafia. The opening of "The Net" introduces us to a late 19th-century Sicilian backdrop through the eyes of Norvin Blake as he journeys from Palermo to the village of San Sebastiano. As he travels, Blake engages in conversation with a young priest who shares local gossip, notably about Martel and his fiancée, the beautiful Contessa Ginini. The narrative intertwines the beauty of the Sicilian landscape with the underlying complexities of socio-political tensions, hinted through the priest's comments and Blake's observations. As Blake arrives, he reunites with Martel and learns of the anticipation surrounding the upcoming wedding, but there are ominous undertones concerning the Mafia's hold on the island, which foreshadows the tragic events that later unfold, including murder and betrayal. (This is an automatically generated summary.) UR - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6379 ER -