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The Godmother: Murder, Vengeance, and the Bloody Struggle of Mafia Women
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About This Book
" The Godmother [is a] crisply written, dutifully researched book exploring the role of women in the…underbelly of Italian life." — New York Times Book Review The chilling story of one woman's rise to prominence in the Italian Mafia, and the as-yet untold stories of the women who followed in her footsteps. For as long as it has gripped our imaginations, the Mafia has been tied to an ingrained image of masculinity. We read about "made men ," "wise guys ," and "good fellas " leading criminal organizations whose culture prizes machismo, with women as ancillary and often-powerless trivialized mistresses and long-suffering mob wives. The reality is far more complex. In The Godmother , investigative journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau tells the stories of the women who have risen to prominence, and fallen out of favor, in the Italian mob, beginning with the most infamous of these Pupetta Maresca. A Mafia woman born and raised, Pupetta avenged her husband's murder, firing 29 shots at the man who killed him. Woven throughout Pupetta's story is Nadeau's diligent research, and her personal interviews with the Mafia women themselves. Nadeau takes readers inside the Mafia families to paint a complete and complex portrait of the real culture that has shaped the Mafia, and the women who are part of it. Leaving behind the stereotypes we know from Mafia movies, The Godmother shows the Mafia in an entirely new full-fledged, ruthless, twenty-first-century criminal enterprises led by whoever is strong enough and smart enough to take control.
Reviews
"In this engrossing account, Nadeau combines diligent research, hours of personal interviews, and vivid prose to immerse the reader in the world of Italian Mafia women...Nadeau tells the stories of those who defected and turned evidence against the mob, such as wives who betrayed their husbands, but she focuses on the unrepentant women...This look at the 'feminine' side of the Mafia is a must for true crime fans."
"[Nadeau's] prose is straightforward, with welcome flashes of irony."
"This is especially strange as Nadeau admits several times that the various syndicates continue to operate successfully precisely because they're involved in the highest echelons of legitimate state power."
"Fans of Mafia-related pop culture and history will enjoy Nadeau's book, even as it overturns everything we thought we knew about the Mafia."
"A glancing account of women's roles in the making of the Italian underworld...valuable are Nadeau's accounts of mob wives and daughters who have cashed in on 'mafia chic'...But those are the lucky ones, as 'hundreds of women in mafia families have been brutally murdered over the years'...A good choice for Mafia completists and students of international crime."
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