The Peace Gallery, in Damariscotta, will host a reading and conversation with Elisa M. Speranza, author of the new novel The Italian Prisoner, Sunday, May 29, 2022, from 2 - 4 p.m. Ron Capps, author and director of the Veterans Writing Project, will interview Speranza about the book and the little known history at the heart of her novel.

A work of historical fiction set in the Sicilian community of New Orleans’ French Quarter, Speranza’s novel illuminates a true story involving Italian prisoners of war on the U.S. home front during World War II.