Flying in the Past: Review

Flying in the Past
Author: Claude Nougat
Publisher: CreateSpace
Series: The Phoenix Heritage #1
Pages: 202

Summary:

FLYING IN THE PAST is the first book in Claude Nougat's series THE PHOENIX HERITAGE, originally entitled FEAR OF THE PAST when it was first published in 2011.

Both a contemporary coming of age story and a family saga set in Sicily, the Phoenix Heritage raises the question of nature vs. nurture. It follows Tony, a young American video game creator, who, suffering from burnout, looks for his family roots in Sicily. Walking in an abandoned palazzo, he falls in a Time Trap where he meets all his forebears going back 900 years - all historical characters who helped shape Sicily's History.

Tony discovers he has more in common with an English adventurer who settled in Sicily in the 18th century than with his own father. He shares with him a star-crossed love for the beautiful Duchess of Floridia and worries he may be destined for failure in his own life, just as the Englishman was in his. Can he escape his genetic inheritance or is he condemned to repeat the mistakes of his forebears? (Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

I actually really enjoyed this book but I'm finding that I'm having a hard time putting my feelings into words. Will here it goes, I'll try my best! Tony is a very smart young man who finishes school early and begins to work as a video game creator. He becomes burnt out and decides that he's tired of this life and quits his job. Tony's father, who is deceased, had always told him stories of his ancestors so he travels to Sicily in search of his family roots.  While there, he enters and becomes trapped in what appears to be an abandoned building.

Once he is there he realizes this building is not "abandoned", but is full of the "ghosts" of his ancestors. He becomes trapped in this time warp and realizes there is more to him than he ever knew and that he is in love with a woman he hasn't met before in this lifetime.

Like I said, I don't really know how to explain my feelings with this book. It's a little like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Once I started reading this book I had a hard time putting it down. It really grabbed my interest from the beginning and it's unlike anything I've ever read before. The "plays" that were put on throughout this story were very interesting and I felt like I was actually sitting there watching them because Claude made it so easy to visualize. By watching these plays, Tony learns even more about his family and himself.

I think that this is a book you'd have to read for yourself to fully understand what it's all about. I'm definitely looking forward to reading what happens with Tony next in the second book. If you would like a mix of fantasy, history, and a bit of romance, then this may be the book for you.

*I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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