Ben-Hur is big inspiration for Crawley author

Vol 1 (£13.99 paperback/£6.99 eBook) came out at the end of April. Vol 2 (£13.99 paperback/£6.99 eBook) comes out on July 28.

Luigi, aged 60, said: “Since my early teens I have loved to read and to go to the cinema, enthralled and captivated by the power of story-telling to change the world we live in, whether through the recounting of history, tales of fiction with a strong resonance to issues of the day, or better yet something that combines the two to dramatic effect. At least this is my fervent belief. In this respect I am perhaps a foolish and hopeless romantic. Maybe it is for this reason that I was drawn at a young age to the movie epics of the 50’s and 60’s where dialogue and a good script had to take centre stage as there was no such thing as CGI, nor the blue-screen magic we have today.

“And at the top of my list – Ben-Hur A Tale of The Christ. The moving music, the story telling and a great script, the acting which I still feel today was with genuine passion and feeling. To this very day it remains as only one of two movies ever to receive 11 Oscars. That tells you something. I am a Catholic and believe in the Saviour and His message, and the book of Lew Wallace and the adaptation to the big screen still moves me to this day.

“My book is set in the first century AD, a moment in time when the Roman empire was reaching its peak and weaves the people and the grey events of history into a tale to explain two of history’s biggest mysteries. Why was Pontius Pilate, notorious to this very day, written out of the records as if he never existed (save in passages of the bible which historians do not consider a record of historical events), and how did the teachings of one man survive at a time of gods, a plethora of prophets and huge civil unrest in Rome’s eastern province?

“It is a historical fiction, but not as Ken Follet would write it in its detail and learnings of how things were done. However neither is it too simplistic. I think for a novel like this it’s just important for the reader to feel and, to do that, you need to educate and inform in an entertaining way, and also to choose a style of writing that feels fitting for the world the author wants to take you into.

“Most of the characters are real, as are the events that are recorded in history, many of which might sound like things of legend were they not documented by historians. All I have done is to weave them together into a tale of intrigue, hope, passion, conspiracy, treachery, love, vengeance and a search for purpose that leaves the reader wanting to come back for more. Importantly, leaving the reader with a question in the mind. Could this be true? What is the difference between history and fiction, save physical evidence. Are all things absent of physical evidence a thing of fiction? Surely not. Neither then is the truth and the one who spoke it.

“I have done my best to entertain with plot twists and rabbit holes. There are clues everywhere, some more subtle than others, many of which you might well miss until you find yourself, suddenly, at an inflection point, reflecting on something your brain remembers you read, like a small bell sounding in the distance. I hope readers get the satisfaction and eureka moments when they happen. If not the first time around, maybe when they have the chance for a re-read should the fancy ever take them, like a great movie that reveals itself a little more each time you watch it.”