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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Friday, May 8, 2015

From sin to piety? - The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova by Lloyd Lofthouse

From the award winning author of ‘My Splendid Concubine’ and ‘Running With the Enemy’ comes ‘The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova’!
Don Juan Casanova wants to discover what it’s like to be loved by only one woman. His problem is that he was raised by his grandparents to become a Lothario, who loves and then leaves women for the next conquest. As he approaches 40, he is facing a crisis.

Description:

From the award winning author of ‘My Splendid Concubine’ and ‘Running With the Enemy’ comes ‘The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova’!

Don Juan Casanova wants to discover what it’s like to be loved by only one woman. His problem is that he was raised by his grandparents to become a Lothario, who loves and then leaves women for the next conquest. As he approaches 40, he is facing a crisis.

His grandfather and then younger brother have been viciously murdered, and Don is the prime suspect. As he struggles to stay out of jail and end his life of serial seductions and find one woman to love, he’s discovering it isn’t easy to kick an old habit. His mother isn’t helping by quoting scripture every chance she gets in an attempt to change her son’s lifestyle of sin for one of piety.

GUEST POST
The Evolution of Don Juan Casanova 

Don Juan was a literary fictional character who became a symbol of libertinism in 1630 with the tragic drama El burlador de Sevilla, The Seducer of Seville. 

Then Mozart gave Don Juan literary immortality in his 1787 opera Don Giovanni. In Spain he is known as Don Juan; in Italy, Don Giovanni. The legend of Don Juan tells how, at the height of his licentious career, he seduced a girl of noble family and killed her father, who had tried to avenge her. 

Don Juan’s literary myth grew as other stories continued his exploits in the bedroom. For instance, Lord Byron wrote about Don Juan in a satiric poem in the early 19th century and in the early 20th century in a drama by George Bernard Shaw. 

The fictional story of Don Juan/Giovanni was originally written according to the beliefs and ideals of the 17th century, but as the story was translated and time slipped by the story was adapted to accommodate cultural changes. The basic story remains the same—Don is portrayed as a wealthy, seductive libertine who devotes his life to seducing women, and taking great pride in his ability to seduce women of all ages and stations in life. 

However, Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was a real person known for his reputation as a seducer of women. In his infamous autobiography that he wrote in seclusion near the end of his life, he claims to have seduced over 120 women and girls, with several veiled references to male lovers as well. 

Casanova was the son of Venetian actors, and as a young man he entered the priesthood studying at the Seminary of St. Cyprian in Padua, but it didn’t take long before he was expelled for his bawdy (sexual, seductive) behavior, so he returned to Venice, where he served a Roman Catholic cardinal—a post from which he was quickly fired amid scandal (he couldn’t stop seducing women). 

In fact, in 1755 Casanova was accused and found guilty of witchcraft, and sentenced to 5 years in prison but in less than a year, he managed to escape and fled to Paris where a sensationalized account of his exploits (with women) appeared as a pamphlet, and Casanova was instantly famous. For the next few years he traveled and used his charm and winnings from gambling to support himself, but eventually his luck ran out, and he had to go on the run again to escape his creditors. 

The themes that run through both the fictional life of Don Juan/Giovanni and the real life of Casanova are: religious in nature, deal with the importance of honor and the power of evil (Don Juan/Giovanni has been identified as the devil, known for taking on other forms and identities to fool and corrupt mortals.) 

In the novel, The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova, the main character has been named after history’s two most infamous libertines—one fictional and one real—and raised by his grandfather to grow up and become a serial seducer of woman, but the influence of Don’s mother, who represents religion and spirituality in this story, is the counterweight to the influence of the devil represented by his grandfather, and the family’s wealth, power and the nightclub, the Aphrodisiac Academy. 

Don, being an honorable man, who is haunted by an event that took place when he was fighting in the Vietnam War, struggles through the novel to shed his life as a libertine and redeem himself by helping abused women while searching for the one woman that he can love with honor and loyalty who will love him back.

About the author:
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran, who worked as a maître d’ in a 15 million dollar nightclub for a few years. He also taught English literature in the public schools for most of 30 years where he explored Romeo and Juliet with thousands of high school students.

A romantic at heart, in his award winning novels, he tests true love in difficult situations and the challenges of keeping that love alive. My Splendid Concubine, his first novel, is an epic love story that teaches acceptance and respect for other people and their cultures. Running with the Enemy, his second novel, is a love story that will either cost the characters their lives or will complete each other’s hearts. The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova, his third novel, is the story of a man raised in a world of sin and seduction, who craves the love of one woman but fears, because of his infamous reputation as a libertine, that he’ll never find a woman to love who will trust him to be faithful. 

Lloyd Lofthouse lives with his family in California’s San Francisco Bay area. 


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