Author Peter Cimini was born in New York City, in the borough of the Bronx. He attended both a Catholic elementary and high school. Mr. Cimini holds bachelor and masters degrees from New York University. He was a teacher both in New York and Connecticut, and served students twenty years as a curriculum specialist, overseeing and writing curricula. He is also the author of The Secret Sin of Opi, on the topic of missing and exploited children. His favorite novel is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Author Cimini admires the works of writers Kristin Hannah and Nicolas Sparks. He lives in Connecticut.
The Man Who Transformed Africa is his latest novel.
Visit Peter’s blog at www.peterdcimini.wordpress.com or connect with him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
About the Book
The novel opens with Vatican intrigue between liberal and conservative cardinals, which leads to the unlikely selection of an Indonesian pope. Seizing the opportunity, the new pope uses his ex-cathedra (papal infallibility) to declare poverty to be an immoral human condition. The pope decides to lead by example, taking the provocative step of selling Vatican treasures to fund a long-term plan to build a strong middle-class society in Africa.
The novel follows the pope, an ex-president of the United States, and an African nationalist during the first two years of an estimated twelve-year project to build a strong African middle-class society.
After a year-and-a-half of steady progress, the ex-president and the African nationalist realize they have miscalculated the costs of irrigating the African tropical savannas, and the project stalls. A brilliant, young, autistic project employee, originally hired to oversee the use of Africa’s natural resources, solves the irrigation problem, allowing the plan to continue moving forward. The autistic project employee later comes to the rescue once again when he clears the name of the ex-president, who had been falsely accused of bribery.
The author believes the fictional narrative of this unique story will show the need to stabilize Africa’s social order, infrastructure, and land use, which would result in an economic rejuvenation of the continent, eventually turning Africa into an agricultural giant.
Interview
Would you consider your latest book, The Man Who Transformed Africa, to be a one of a kind? How so?
In my way of thinking I don’t believe building a strong middle-class society on an a confinement, had ever been explored as I have in The Man Who Transformed Africa.
What’s one fun fact about your book people should know about The Man Who Transformed Africa?
Easy and short answer, the behavior of Doctor Adair, my autistic character.
Can you tell us a little about the main characters?
Indonesian Pope, Sunjaya Prantata, takes the name of Pope Francis Xavier after being selected Pope, leader of the Catholic Church . As a child he was raised by his parents as a Catholic. After elementary school in Indonesian schools, he and his close friend who lived in the same run-down apartment were awarded a scholarship to a Catholic High School run by Jesuit priests. Both children lived in Severe poverty. After graduating from High School, all they had to look forward to was their life in Severe Poverty, they would both be suseptable to prison, mainly for stealing food, due to their continuous hunger. Both teenagers decided to become priests, which would enable them to escape severe poverty. Pope Francis Xavier after being selected as Pope learned that his selection of Pope came about from a rigged election, engineered by three conservative cardinals, who believe they could return the Catholic Church to conservative religious values by influencing the Indonesian Pope.
Budi Susanto, Pope Francis Xavier’s long time Indonesian friend since elementary school. Both receiving scholarships to an Indonesian Catholic private school, run by Jesuit missionary priests. Budi Susanto becomes the secretary and confidentant to his friend, Pope of the Catholic Church. In the novel both Budi and Sunjaya express the fact that they became priests, not out of religious fervor, but were motivated to join the religious order of Jesuits, to escape their life of severe poverty. The bargen they made to each other, as Jesuits priests, was to strictly follow the rules and regulations of their Jesuit religious order. Budi, the character who brings levity and laughter to the first two years of the pope’s project; only to be emotionally destroyed towards the end of the novel.
One of the Directors of the Pope’s project in Africa, Build Africa Together, is Roscoe Ayala, a character build on the former American president Barack Obama. His partner as director of the pope’s project Amari Maalott is built on the former South African racial leader, prisoner and South African President, Nelson Mandela.
Towards the end of my novel, comes an autistic character. Misunderstood as he meets the leaders of the pope’s project, eventually hired as the Director of Africa’s natural resources; and single handedly saves the pope’s project.
Even though your book is classified as fiction, are there nonfiction aspects to it?
Yes there are many non-fiction aspects. Part 1 of my novel, are the actual events of the process of selecting a new Pope. And also in Part 2 of my novel. Many aspects of life on the continent of Africa, Political aspects, behavior of African militate groups are as you read in my novel, 64% of the world’s arable farm land is a correct fact. African Deserts can become an African natural resource with the use of Solar Power plants.
What’s next for you?
In 2010 I wrote my first novel, The Secret Sin of Ope, a story that takes place in Italy, about missing and exploited children. During my promotion of my novel, I visited many Italian social clubs in America. At each visit to a social clubs there was most often a person who had read the story, and expressing disappointed that I had never given the protagonist in my story, a life after captivity. I believe my next project will be to re-write my story of missing and exploited children, giving my protagonist a life after captivity.
the book rack 