The Elba Trilogy - Able Was I, Ere I Saw Elba, and I Before E - is a multigenerational literary fiction series spanning New York, Paris, and Italy, exploring identity, exile, and chosen family. Transcending the traditional LGBTQ genre, the trilogy traces the intersecting lives of three characters bound by displacement across three generations: a gay middle-aged American man haunted by a life unlived, a French woman shaped by the trauma of wartime Paris, and a young Italian immigrant navigating identity and belonging in 1980s New York. Together their stories build toward a single pivotal night and a reckoning none of them can avoid.
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On February 1, 2000, atop a rooftop terrace overlooking Rome, Grey Tigrett hosts a 50th birthday celebration for the mother of Paolo Viglietti - a young Italian-American man he befriended during an unexpected detour of his cruise ship to the island of Elba.
Suspicious of Grey's generosity, Maria's lifelong friend, Brigitte Crémieux, leaves Elba for only the second time in her adult life to attend the party. But her concern for Maria and Paolo is eclipsed when she arrives and is greeted by the party's surprise guests.
Across the three novels, Drew Banks traces the intertwined backstories of Grey, Brigitte, and Paolo - exposing the pivotal events that brought them to this fated night, when each must confront the singular core belief that has shaped their life.
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This genre-blending trilogy will captivate readers who enjoy LGBTQ+ literature, coming-of-age journeys, historical fiction, family drama, romance, mysteries, European settings, and evocative "armchair travel" storytelling.