Miracle of the Rising Sun is Joseph Sciuto’s heartfelt ninth novel about the power of human connections in overcoming trauma. Alicia, the twenty-three-year-old narrator of the novel, is a hard-partying model who becomes victim of a terrible assault that leaves her physically and psychologically damaged.
Just when she’s feeling at her lowest, Alicia meets Nick, a wartime reporter and novelist who suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Haunted by horrifying nightmares from his time in Ukraine and other war-ravaged countries, Nick somehow survives on just forty-five minutes of sleep each night.
Nick and Alicia feel an instant connection to each other. But Nick’s past is hiding more than is immediately apparent. Miracle of the Rising Sun follows Nick and Alicia as their relationship deepens. Can it lead to mutual salvation, or will nightmares from the past prove too difficult to defeat?
Alicia and Nick are a highly compelling pair of protagonists and a beautiful example of how 1+1 can equal much more than 2. Miracle of the Rising Sun also features a great cast of side characters, several of whom overlap with Sciuto’s previous novel, The Ninth Sphere.
Joseph Sciuto’s elegant prose is the perfect match for this emotional story. Despite its difficult subject matter, Miracle of the Rising Sun is grounded in a sense of optimism, emphasizing the transformative effects of human relationships in finding hope, even in the darkest of times.
Altogether, Miracle of the Rising Sun proves to be one of Joseph Sciuto’s most compelling stories in his very impressive catalog of work.
