Issue 01 - How did the title of Through Sacrifice: Freedom come about?
I had several working names for the book, and settling on the final title wasn't easy. Actually, coming up with a title is one of the hardest parts of writing a book.
In the case of this one, how can one sum up the life story of Angelo Flaim in a few words? I wanted Through Sacrifice: Freedom to be more than a war story. It was equally an immigrant story, a "band of brothers" story, a love story, and I felt so much more. But because I felt all the stories to be equally important, my goal was to instead convey the essence of his life.
My original title was "The Isaac Syndrome". In the Bible, Isaac was the son of Abraham who, when he realized his father was going to sacrifice him on an altar because God told him to do so, readily agreed. He was willing to be a sacrifice for his family and the new nation God was crafting so Jesus would have a special homeland to be born into.
Similarly, I felt this came close to summing up my father's life. A life of sacrifice for his family and beloved Trentino. But, if you knew my father, it was more than simply sacrifice. There was a driving force behind him towards finally being free. Free of war, danger, and a forced nomadic life. He just wanted to be free to have a family and pursue his ambitions. A life of sacrifice in the pursuit of freedom. Hence the final book title.
