Enjoy Coming of Age fiction by Gary
It’s 1970, and eighteen-year-old Gabriel DeMarco can’t seem to get anything right. Not with his strong-willed father. Not with girls. Not with finding his place in a world torn apart by assassinations, war protests, and social upheaval.
Stuck between boyhood and manhood, Gabriel has grown up in turbulent times—from JFK’s assassination when he was eleven to the chaos of the late 1960s. Now, directionless and disillusioned after repeated loss, he clings to one hope: meeting his favorite folk singer might inspire him and help him find his way.
When a trip to Carnegie Hall proves fruitless, Gabriel stumbles upon a new opportunity during a summer road trip—an outdoor folk festival in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains where his dream suddenly seems within reach.
But meeting a celebrity is easier said than done, and Gabriel has spent years learning that we don’t always get what we want. As he journeys from Connecticut through 1970s America, he discovers that the real transformation may not come from meeting his idol, but from the people he encounters and the truths he learns about himself along the way.
Perfect for fans of character-driven literary fiction and readers who love nostalgic coming-of-age stories set against the backdrop of a transforming America.
For readers who fell in love with Gabriel DeMarco in Exit 14 and Still Life—discover the epic romance that shaped his family.
It’s nine months after Pearl Harbor, in the small factory towns of Connecticut’s Lower Naugatuck Valley. Michael DeMarco is full of hopes and dreams, eager to break free from his humble Italian-American family’s expectations. Cecelia Alberino—beautiful, talented, beginning her senior year of high school—dreams of the same escape from the dull routine of working-class life.
When fate brings them together again and again, Michael and Cecelia discover they’re remarkably alike: both children of Italian immigrants, both determined to do something extraordinary with their lives. They share their challenges, their dreams, and a growing love—but always from afar, as Michael enlists to fight in World War II.
Through letters, longing, and fleeting moments together, their romance unfolds against the backdrop of a nation at war. Woven throughout are glimpses of the Great Depression that shaped their childhoods, revealing how two young people came of age during America’s most turbulent decades.
Dramatic, passionate, and deeply moving, What Are the Chances? is a sweeping multigenerational love story about immigrant families, the complexity of dreams, and the power of destiny. Perfect for readers who love epic historical romances and character-driven sagas set in America’s greatest generation.
It’s 1970, and eighteen-year-old Gabriel DeMarco can’t seem to get anything right. Not with his strong-willed father. Not with girls. Not with finding his place in a world torn apart by assassinations, war protests, and social upheaval.
Stuck between boyhood and manhood, Gabriel has grown up in turbulent times—from JFK’s assassination when he was eleven to the chaos of the late 1960s. Now, directionless and disillusioned after repeated loss, he clings to one hope: meeting his favorite folk singer might inspire him and help him find his way.
When a trip to Carnegie Hall proves fruitless, Gabriel stumbles upon a new opportunity during a summer road trip—an outdoor folk festival in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains where his dream suddenly seems within reach.
But meeting a celebrity is easier said than done, and Gabriel has spent years learning that we don’t always get what we want. As he journeys from Connecticut through 1970s America, he discovers that the real transformation may not come from meeting his idol, but from the people he encounters and the truths he learns about himself along the way.
Perfect for fans of character-driven literary fiction and readers who love nostalgic coming-of-age stories set against the backdrop of a transforming America.
For readers who fell in love with Gabriel DeMarco in Exit 14 and Still Life—discover the epic romance that shaped his family.
It’s nine months after Pearl Harbor, in the small factory towns of Connecticut’s Lower Naugatuck Valley. Michael DeMarco is full of hopes and dreams, eager to break free from his humble Italian-American family’s expectations. Cecelia Alberino—beautiful, talented, beginning her senior year of high school—dreams of the same escape from the dull routine of working-class life.
When fate brings them together again and again, Michael and Cecelia discover they’re remarkably alike: both children of Italian immigrants, both determined to do something extraordinary with their lives. They share their challenges, their dreams, and a growing love—but always from afar, as Michael enlists to fight in World War II.
Through letters, longing, and fleeting moments together, their romance unfolds against the backdrop of a nation at war. Woven throughout are glimpses of the Great Depression that shaped their childhoods, revealing how two young people came of age during America’s most turbulent decades.
Dramatic, passionate, and deeply moving, What Are the Chances? is a sweeping multigenerational love story about immigrant families, the complexity of dreams, and the power of destiny. Perfect for readers who love epic historical romances and character-driven sagas set in America’s greatest generation.
I would like to thank the many people who supported me in my first writing venture by ordering and reading Exit 14. Writing it was a labor of love.
In August of 2020, I made the difficult but necessary decision to unpublish Exit 14, taking it off the market completely. The book was based, in part, on the real-life deaths of two siblings, Peter and Elizabeth Goumas, which took place more than 50 years ago. Of course, many novels are based, to some greater or lesser extent, on real people and real events.
When surviving members of the Goumas family reached out to me to express concerns after reading Exit 14, I sought the counsel of a publishing lawyer who advised me that First Amendment laws were completely on my side and instructed me not to communicate with the family. However, because of the sensitive nature of suicide and because I do not want my work to cause anyone pain, I chose to reconsider that advice.
I met with a member of the Goumas family, heard their concerns, and posted a statement on my website and social media committing to unpublish the book. I also apologized for any emotional pain my novel caused and donated $1,000 to a scholarship fund established by the Goumas family in memory of their brother Peter.
Readers should know that any copies of Exit 14 currently seen on Amazon are sold by third-party sellers, not by me-something I have absolutely no control over. Many thanks to the friends and readers who continue to support my writing.
