''The Godfather Returns'' is a novel written by author

Mark Winegardner Mark Winegardner (born November 24, 1961) is an American writer born and raised in Bryan, Ohio. His novels include '' The Godfather Returns'', ''Crooked River Burning'', and ''The Veracruz Blues''. He published a collection of short stories, '' ...

, published in 2004. It is the sequel to

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably '' The Godfather'' (1969), whi ...

's 1969 novel ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'' and '' The Sicilian'' (1984). The publisher,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, selected Winegardner to write a sequel after Puzo's death. As the original novel covered the years 1945 to 1955, and included significant backstory on Don

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfathe ...

's life, ''Returns'' covers the years 1955 to 1962, and includes significant backstory on

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. In the three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominate ...

's life prior to the

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

. It is the third book in ''The Godfather'' series of novels. It was also published under the name ''The Godfather: The Lost Years''.

Plot

The story picks up immediately after the end of the first novel. The events of the film ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'' take place within the time frame of this novel, but are only mentioned in the background. Many of Puzo's characters are expanded upon, especially

Fredo Corleone Frederico "Fredo" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. Fredo is portrayed by American actor John Cazale in the Francis Ford Coppola 1972 film adaptation and in the 1974 sequel, ''The Godfather Part II ...

Tom Hagen Thomas Hagen is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''The Godfather'' (1972) and ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974). He is portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He also appears i ...

, and Johnny Fontane, and new characters like Nick Geraci, Danny Shea, and Francesca Corleone are introduced. The other half of the novel goes deeper into Michael's role as Don and his dream of legitimizing the

Corleone family The Corleone family are fictional characters in both the novels and the films created by Mario Puzo, first appearing in his 1969 novel, ''The Godfather''. They are an organized crime family originating from the Sicilian town of Corleone, and ba ...

. The novel expands on Michael's service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as well as his brother Fredo's secret life. The novel shows how Sonny, Fredo and

join the family business, as well as the deaths of

Peter Clemenza Peter Clemenza is a fictional character who first appeared in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. He is played by Academy Award-nominee Richard Castellano in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film adaptation of the novel, and by Bruno Kirby (as ...

and

Salvatore Tessio Salvatore "Sal" Tessio is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'', as well as two of the films based on it: ''The Godfather'' (1972) and '' The Godfather Part II'' (1974). His given name was created for the films; in th ...

. ''The Godfather Returns'' was followed by ''

The Godfather's Revenge ''The Godfather's Revenge'', a 2006 novel written by author Mark Winegardner, is the sequel to his 2004 novel ''The Godfather Returns''. It is the fourth book in ''The Godfather'' novel series and is chronologically set last. The story takes pl ...

'' in 2006, also written by Winegardner.

Background

In the 1990s, Puzo had been approached to write a sequel to ''The Godfather;'' he declined, but stated that he would not object to a sequel being written by another author after he had died. Several years after Puzo's 1999 death, Random House held a contest to select a potential author: entrants were required to write a synopsis of their proposed book along with a completed sample chapter. Winegardner was selected from several thousand entrants as the author of the new novel.

Reception

Michiko Kakutani, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', called it "a solid enough performance: dutiful, suspenseful and only occasionally annoying."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfather Returns, The 2004 American novels The Godfather novels Interquel novels Novels set in the 1950s Novels set in the 1960s Cultural depictions of the Mafia