New Milwaukee Author Carlo Emanuele’s Debut Novel, ‘The Sins We Inherit’

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Photo courtesy of Carlo Emanuele

Carlo Emanuele (Author)

Carlo Emanuele

After working in business his entire career, Carlo Emanuele is taking a creative leap. The new Milwaukee author is putting out his debut novel this year, The Sins We Inherit, a contemporary crime drama with Milwaukee, and family, at the heart. Emanuele’s debut novel is fiction, but the themes, characters, and story are deeply personal.

The Sins We Inherit comes out early Fall 2025. For more information and updates, visit the novel’s website.

“This is my first book. It’s been an amazing process,” says Emanuele. “I’m hopeful that this is successful and I can pursue it full time.”

Emanuele’s novel comes from journaling through his own struggles, between heartbreak and losing his grandfather. The passion project for him has been immersive and cathartic, getting to highlight many personal details of the family and community that are so important to him.

“I've always been very entrepreneurial. My main motivator was heartbreak. My grandfather died right after Covid and we were very close. I went through a divorce and going through that process is like mourning a family member,” says Emanuele. “I grew up in a very working-class South Side Milwaukee area and my family and I do very well now. I also grew up around all sorts of Italians in a big family, and it’s a culture I am really proud of.”

Crime and Family

Emanuele tells the story of a man named Costantino, or “Cost,” as he balances his familial relationships and past in organized crime with the substantial task of rebuilding his life. “It’s a fictional contemporary drama that does draw on a lot of the things that have happened in my life. I would say it is a family story wrapped in crime,” says Emanuele. “The other part that I think is unique, is that Milwaukee is at the heart of it. It’s going to feel like these people only exist in this city.”

Cost is loosely based on Emanuele himself, and the themes in the novel trace back to Emanuele’s own life, with many creative liberties on the way. “The story is about is a man whose made his way out of a working-class neighborhood, went to college, went through a divorce, and needed to rebuild his life while his infamous grandfather passed away and he gets sucked back into the organized crime world,” says Emanuele. “It’s a family story first. The protagonist is dynamic, strong, prideful, and stubborn, but at the end of the day, he’s a very traditional, loyal, romantic man who is trying to build his connection back with his daughter.”

This novel is a first for Emanuele, a different direction from anything he’s ever done before. His passion for the novel is a force, propelling it forward with rapid speed, and he is excited for the reception from the community and beyond. “This is the first thing I’ve ever put out there. I’m so Type A, I tackled this the way you would a business plan,” says Emanuele. “I think the thing I’m most excited for, where I can tell that this is a real personal passion of mine, is that I’m excited to put myself out there. It’s a unique tale in a unique part of the country. It’s how I dealt with a hard situation, and Milwaukee is at the heart of it.”