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The Good Mothers: The Story of the Three Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia
An unprecedented look inside a deadly and obscenely wealthy branch of the Italian mafia and the electrifying story of the women who risked everything to bring them down.
The Calabrian Mafia—known as the ’Ndrangheta—is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world, with branches stretching from America to Australia. It controls seventy percent of the cocaine and heroin supply in Europe, manages billion-dollar extortion rackets, brokers illegal arms deals—supplying weapons to criminals and terrorists—and plunders the treasuries of both Italy and the European Union.
The ’Ndrangheta’s power derives from a macho mix of violence and silence—omertà. Yet it endures because of family ties: you are born into the syndicate, or you marry in. Loyalty is absolute. Bloodshed is revered. You go to prison or your grave and kill your own father, brother, sister, or mother in cold blood before you betray The Family. Accompanying the ’Ndrangheta’s reverence for tradition and history is a violent misogyny among its men. Women are viewed as chattel, bargaining chips for building and maintaining clan alliances and beatings—and worse—are routine.
In 2009, after one abused ’Ndrangheta wife was murdered for turning state’s evidence, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti considered a tantalizing possibility: that the ’Ndrangheta’s sexism might be its greatest flaw—and her most effective weapon. Approaching two more mafia wives, Alessandra persuaded them to testify in return for a new future for themselves and their children.
A feminist saga of true crime and justice, The Good Mothers is the riveting story of a high-stakes battle pitting a brilliant, driven woman fighting to save a nation against ruthless mafiosi fighting for their existence. Caught in the middle are three women fighting for their children and their lives. Not all will survive.
The Calabrian Mafia—known as the ’Ndrangheta—is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world, with branches stretching from America to Australia. It controls seventy percent of the cocaine and heroin supply in Europe, manages billion-dollar extortion rackets, brokers illegal arms deals—supplying weapons to criminals and terrorists—and plunders the treasuries of both Italy and the European Union.
The ’Ndrangheta’s power derives from a macho mix of violence and silence—omertà. Yet it endures because of family ties: you are born into the syndicate, or you marry in. Loyalty is absolute. Bloodshed is revered. You go to prison or your grave and kill your own father, brother, sister, or mother in cold blood before you betray The Family. Accompanying the ’Ndrangheta’s reverence for tradition and history is a violent misogyny among its men. Women are viewed as chattel, bargaining chips for building and maintaining clan alliances and beatings—and worse—are routine.
In 2009, after one abused ’Ndrangheta wife was murdered for turning state’s evidence, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti considered a tantalizing possibility: that the ’Ndrangheta’s sexism might be its greatest flaw—and her most effective weapon. Approaching two more mafia wives, Alessandra persuaded them to testify in return for a new future for themselves and their children.
A feminist saga of true crime and justice, The Good Mothers is the riveting story of a high-stakes battle pitting a brilliant, driven woman fighting to save a nation against ruthless mafiosi fighting for their existence. Caught in the middle are three women fighting for their children and their lives. Not all will survive.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
307 people are currently reading
3176 people want to read
About the author
Alex Perry
43 books71 followersAlex Perry is a nonfiction writer. He is the author of The Good Mothers, The Rift, Falling Off The Edge, and Lifeblood, as well as several ebooks. His journalism has won numerous awards, and he is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, while his work has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Harper's, TIME, Newsweek, and others. Born in Philadelphia and raised in England, Perry lived and worked for 15 years in Asia and Africa. He now lives in Hampshire, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews
July 21, 2022
"I see, I hear, I speak." The words of someone who is has broken free of the truly confining and narrow existence of living within the sphere of the mafia.
June 11, 2018
I really didn't know much about the Mafia until I read this book. This is a very informant book about the Mafia, and how the women and children were treated. Prosecutor Alessandra really is a brave lady that brings justice to women and children of the Mafia and destroys a large portion of the Calabrina Mafia known as the Ndrangheta. It is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world with branches stretching from America to Australia. Prosecutor Alessandra got a lot of the Mafia women to trust her and testify against their own family members to bring them down. This Mafia kills anyone that got in their way including their own family members. A must read. Very interesting and informative.
July 24, 2018
This is an eye opening look into the Mafia. You are born into it,marry within it and you will remain loyal at any cost. In 2009 after the murder of one Mafia wife prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti got the women to testify about the men. This was a deep look at the women in Mafia life. Perry really put in a ton of work on this novel. Including pictures of the women. This a must read. A true story that delivers an intense view of the dangerous life of these women.
Dawnny
Novels N Latte
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Dawnny
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July 12, 2018
3.5 stars for the veracity and documentations, but rounded up for the connecting historical, cultural content. And also the photos and the geographic views.
It jumps a bit between the women's life stories and their outcomes. And the resultant "searches" and police cases of possible prosecution.
This is so sad that I almost reduced it a star because there truly is no enjoyment in the read.
Calabria's drug trade in cocaine products (3.5% of Italia's entire GDP- which supplies throughout Europe) and the honor systems of this cartel coupled with the treatment of their own females!
This "disloyalty" factor reprisal and women as thrall in a cultural sense is widely present. Still. It is. And women like Lea and Concerto are the present day martyrs.
It jumps a bit between the women's life stories and their outcomes. And the resultant "searches" and police cases of possible prosecution.
This is so sad that I almost reduced it a star because there truly is no enjoyment in the read.
Calabria's drug trade in cocaine products (3.5% of Italia's entire GDP- which supplies throughout Europe) and the honor systems of this cartel coupled with the treatment of their own females!
This "disloyalty" factor reprisal and women as thrall in a cultural sense is widely present. Still. It is. And women like Lea and Concerto are the present day martyrs.
August 5, 2018
This is a really interesting expose into the modern southern-Italian mafia and how prosecutors have exploited its terrible mistreatment of its female family members to obtain intelligence and convictions. If the Amanda Knox prosecution left you shaking your head at the state of Italian law enforcement, this book is an effective rebuttal that shows that there are many dedicated and competent members of that community risking their lives to do the right thing. Two things were startling to me as an American: that prosecutors live more or less like they're in witness protection themselves because the threat of assassination is ever present, and their surveillance capability is really, really broad.
May 4, 2018
“As rich as the biggest businesses or banks or governments, ‘Ndrangheta- managed money moved markets and changed lives from New York to London to Tokyo to Sao Paulo to Johannesburg. In the first two decades of the new millennium, it was hard to imagine another human enterprise with such influence over so many lives. Most remarkable of all: almost no one had ever heard of it.”
Perry’s thorough research and strong writing gives us a colourful and informative historical background into the ‘Ndrangheta, who hail from Italy’s Calabria region in the deep south. This makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in current affairs or true crime. As this fascinating story unravels it begins to take on a dramatic, almost cinematic quality. When most of us think about the term mafia, it tends to throw up images of the Cosa Nostra and “The Godfather” but as Perry shows us, there is a lot more to the ‘Ndrangheta than that. This is a serious global, business concern with an incredible amount of power and influence.
Calabria is the poorest province in all of Italy. More than half of the young are unemployed, making it amongst the worst in all of Europe. A US fact finding mission once concluded that if it were an independent state it would be regarded as a failed one. More than a century of emigration has ensured that there are four times as many Calabrians and their descendants outside Italy as in their homeland.
He delves into the rich history of the region, telling us that many of the valleys were only accessible from the sea. The volatile topography worked as a psychological and physical barrier, making the region increasingly isolated from the rest of the country. During winter they could be cut off for months at a time. For thousands of years there was no one to defend these families. They tended olive trees, fished the ocean. “They were poor, resilient and resolutely autonomous.” As the north grew wealthier and the south less so, this increased the gulf between them in all aspects, from culture to outlook.
This is a place where girls were being forced into relationships and married off to older local men, giving birth to children when they are only 14 and 15 years old, condemned to a life of glorified slavery to omerta and blind loyalty to the criminal network or face certain death. There are many shocking stories of how enemies are dealt with. A boss from one clan was paralysed by a bullet that passed through his spine as he stood on a balcony cradling his new born. In revenge, a rival boss’s wife was shot dead in her family home on Christmas day. There’s one man boasting of beating a man unconscious and then feeding his living body to his own pigs.
The mob came to global notoriety in 10 July 1973, when they kidnapped 16 year old John Paul Getty III in Rome. A nightmarish story unfolded over five torturous months, the victim spent hidden away in the Calabrian mountains. To show they meant business they cut off one of his ears and sent it to a newspaper in Rome. His billionaire grandfather eventually relented and paid up, but Getty III never recovered and died at 54, a wheelchair bound, alcoholic drug addict. The mob went onto stage a further 150 kidnappings and used the ransom money to build their empire and buy powerful contacts in important places throughout the country.
It’s hard to describe the type of people involved in here, words like Medieval, sub-human and animalistic spring to mind, but unfortunately they are all too human. It’s often difficult to relate to them, because their behaviour is so counter to the accepted values of the so called civilized world. These are people who chose to kill their own wives and daughters in the bizarre bid to restore their so called family pride and criminal reputations. This is the type of spiteful, merciless behaviour that you would normally associate with post-Gorbachev Russia, or find in many of the current theocracies in the Middle East.
We get a background into the Cosa Nostra too, and we see how the authorities eventually managed to confront them in a meaningful way. We hear about some of the worst years under the mafia rule in Sicily, in particular the attack, where they detonated half a ton of explosives killing famed anti-mafia lawyer, Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three police bodyguards in May 1992. In Palermo alone, the Cosa Nostra killed 11 judges and prosecutors. Apparently the Calabrians paid the Sicilians’ debt to the Colombian cartels effectively buying them our as the Latin American smuggling partners. By 2010 the Euro cocaine market, matched the US one at 350 tons a year, worth 22 billion euros.
At the southern port of Gioia Tauro the mafia ‘taxed’ every container passing through $1.50 a time. It charged the port operators fees amounting to half of their profits, resulting in an annual income that ran into billions of dollars. It was also through this same port that the ‘Ndrangheta built its cocaine empire.
We get some wonderful insight into the true scope of these operations, such as the vast extent of the police bugging activities, these were so inventive that they had bugged an orange orchard, a forest and even a road, where they had torn up the asphalt and relayed it embedding it with listening devices.
They smuggled between 70-80% of the cocaine and heroin into Europe. It plundered the Italian state and the European Union for tens of billions more. By 2009 their empire took in fifty countries, a quarter of the planet from Albania to Togo. The cocaine is produced and refined in Colombia, Peru or Bolivia transported east to Brazil or Venezuela and then shipped across the Atlantic to Europe via the Caribbean or West Africa before being landed in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain or Italy. They were also flying it into the country, using ever inventive ways, having up to 40 drug smugglers on a single plane, passengers, swallowing up to thirty plastic bags, amounting to a kilo each. They would enlist crew members, sometimes recruiting entire crews, including the pilots.
It’s the global reach and impact of the ‘Ndrangheta which is incredible. The global recession proved to be a great opportunity for them to convert their criminal activities into legal and economic power around the world. So this meant as well as safely laundering their incredible wealth they had also become a world power, having control of trillions of euros.
‘Ndranghetisti had no tradition and so they had to invent one, like religion and other cults what mattered was faith, not plausibility but belief. They even used their own language, baccagghju, a slang based on Grecanico to add to the sense of exclusion and secrecy. We see that the mafia problem is largely cultural, this poisonous system is so deep rooted and insular that it is immensely difficult to influence or penetrate through education or other traditional means. This is a system that is multiple generations deep, passed down and taught with discipline.
This piece of journalism, manages to move past many of the negative and ludicrous stereotypes regarding the mafia and Italians as a nation. Perry shows us that the vast majority of Italians do not glorify or sympathise with the mafia or condone their behaviour. Credit must be given to the Italian justice system and the world class forensics involved too, which all helped to bring justice.
Frankly this is an excellent read. It is well researched, nicely written and contains plenty of drama and intensity. Above all what comes through the strongest is the women. The ones who had the bravery to come forward against overwhelming intimidation, pressure and danger at all times from everyone in their community. They are the ones who paid the real price and made a series of immense sacrifices so that justice could be done down the line. This is a powerful, heart breaking story, it’s also an incredibly inspirational one of courage, resilience and determination.
December 19, 2018
This tale of the women who refused to put up with Ndrangheta oppression is inspiring and sad... such bravery but they have to give up their families and their lives, and still the Ndrangheta lives on and leeches off the people. There's nothing romantic about these criminal gangs. They are scum
January 24, 2022
Ojalá hubiera un estado como este en México: que quisiera combatir la violencia.
Ojalá hubiera más madres como estas.
Ojalá no necesitáramos más sangre para salir indignados a la calle.
https://bibliobulimica.wordpress.com/...
Ojalá hubiera más madres como estas.
Ojalá no necesitáramos más sangre para salir indignados a la calle.
https://bibliobulimica.wordpress.com/...
May 11, 2022
„'Ndrangheta“ - Kalabrijos mafija, viena turtingiausių ir negailestingiausių grupuočių visame pasaulyje, kurios galia slypi smurto ir tylos derinyje. Į moteris šios organizacijos viduje žiūrima kaip į kilnojamą turtą, derybų įrankį. 2009m., kai viena „'Ndranghetos“ nario žmona nužudoma, prokurorė Alessandra užmezga dialogą su dvejomis mafijos moterimis ir įtikina jas liudyti vardan vaikų ateities.
Paskutiniu metu realiais faktais paremti kūriniai vis dažniau patenka į mano rankas ir aš taip jais gėriuosi! Ne išimtis ir šis, pasakojantis apie galingiausią pasaulio mafiją, įsikūrusią Italijoje. Sutinku, kad tai kūrinys ne kiekvienam skaitytojui. Mėgstantiems vien tik grožinę literatūrą, kitaip tariant, rašytojo fantazijos vaisių, kuriame tiek siužetas, tiek veikėjai - išgalvoti (aišku, kontekstas gali būti istorinis, kultūrinis, filosofinis ar kitoks), bus sunku įsijausti į šį, kuriame daug duomenų, įvairių žmonių liudijimų, laiškų ir nesumeluotų įvykių, sužlugdžiusių ne vieną gyvenimą, bet tuo pačiu atvėrusių italams akis ir leidusių šiai šaliai prabusti iš neveiksnumo liūno.
Tik pradėjusi skaityti, šiek tiek pasimečiau - daug vietovių, vardų, pavardžių ir apstu juos susaisčiusių ryšių. Ėmiau manyti, kad tokia gausa apsunkins tiek skaitymą, tiek bendrą istorijos suvokimą, tačiau klydau. Vos po keliasdešimties puslapių viskas sklandžiai susidėliojo į savo vietas ir nebegalėjau atplėšti akių nuo informatyvaus, įdomaus, įtraukiančio turinio, nuo mafijos vyrų brutalumo ir bejausmiškumo, nuo moterų, turinčių tokią stiprią valią ir didelį drąsos rezervą, kurio, kai tai liečia jų vaikus, nepajėgia nuslopinti jokie grasinimai, jokie veiksmai, jokia vyriška jėga.
Kūrinyje dominuoja trijų moterų istorijos - Leos (taip pat ir jos dukra Denisė atlieka svarbią rolę), Giuseppinos ir Concettos. Kiekvienos iš jų gyvenimai skirtingi, su vyrais, priklausančiais šiai mafijai, sieja kitokie ryšiai. Kažkam tai sutuoktinis, kažkam tėvas, brolis ar net mylimasis. Tiesa, ir jos pačios, jų amplua ir likimai labai skirtingi. Nenorėdama atskleisti per daug detalių, galiu pasakyti, kad jos ir drąsos, ryžto simbolis, ir šviesesnės ateities bei geresnio pasaulio ikonos.
Ne mažiau svarbų vaidmenį atlieka ir prokurorė Alessandra, kurios potyrių ir jausmų, atliekant tyrimą, bendraujant su mafijos žmonomis taip pat netrūksta. Ši veikėja - tarsi tiltas, jungiantis skaitytoją ir mafiją. Ji padeda suprasti pasaulį, kuris mums, paprastiems žmonėms, atrodo nesuvokiamas, tolimas. Vis dėlto, jis realus ir arčiau, nei galime įsivaizduoti.
Apie mafiją sukurtas ne vienas ir ne du filmai ar serialai (paminėti ir knygoje). Tačiau, kadangi „'Ndrangheta“ - tikra organizacija, žudymo būdai, kuriuos jie naudojo, mane sukrėtė, šokiravo ir, bandant vaizduotėje susidaryti to vizualą, ne kartą nupurtė šiurpas. Kamavo tik vienas klausimas, iš kur tiek šlykščios fantazijos? Be viso siaubo, šis kūrinys patvirtino, kad pasaulis, kuriame gyvename, kupinas materialinių išskaičiavimų, besiremiantis į nieką daugiau, tik į pinigus. Pastaruosius didžioji dalis žmonių bando gauti visais įmanomais būdais, nepaisant nieko - nei gyvybės, nei šeimos, nei moralinių vertybių.
Smurtas prieš moteris egzistuoja ir šiandien. Tačiau „'Ndranghetos“ brutalumas pasiekė giliausią dugną, kuriame ne tik vaikų gimdytojos išnaudojamos ar žudomos, bet ir patys palikuoniai, o berniukai nuo mažų dienų užauga supami ginklų ir amunicijos. Ar tokia turi būti vaikystė, ar tai augdami turi matyti vaikai? Ne. Aš net nežinau, kaip apibūdinti tai, ką pajutau. Visą pluoštą emocijų, pradedant išgąsčiu, baigiant pykčiu. Mane kankino klausimai, kaip tai įmanoma, kiek toli turi būti pažengusi priklausomybė pinigams, kad tėvui nerūpi jo paties kūno ir kraujo gyvybė? Ir visas tas barbariškumas Italijoje vyko keliolika ar keliasdešimt metų atgal, o kažkur, net neabejoju, vyksta ir dabar... Be abejo, tai labai simboliška knyga, kurią reikia perskaityti visiems. Kad geriau suprasti savo mamas, jų skausmą ir nerimą dėl mūsų, vaikų, kad labiau vertinti moterų indėlį į pasaulio santvarką, kad suvokti, jog pokyčiams - niekada nėra per vėlu.
Rekomenduoju, jeigu norite nusikelti į Italiją, kur drauge su prokurore Alessandra galėsite patyrinėti „'Ndranghetos“ praeitį, suprasti, kur slypi organizacijos ištakos, nuo ko prasidėjo šių trijų moterų istorijos, kur dar kartą įsitikinsite, kad motinos visada, visur ir visose situacijose dėl savo vaikų pasiryžusios padaryti visiškai bet ką, įskaitant ir savo gyvybės kainą. Siūlau, jeigu mėgstate tikras istorijas apie be galo stiprias moteris, kurios gali parklupdyti net manančius, kad visas pasaulis jiems po kojomis. Mano nuomone, tai dar vienas kūrinys, įrodantis, kad moterys niekada nebuvo, nėra ir nebus silpnoji lytis, nepajėgianti apginti savęs ar savo vaikų. Tai - dar viena knyga, įrodanti, kad tiesa visada triumfuoja, o kaltiesiems, anksčiau ar vėliau, tenka atsakyti.
5/5⭐
Paskutiniu metu realiais faktais paremti kūriniai vis dažniau patenka į mano rankas ir aš taip jais gėriuosi! Ne išimtis ir šis, pasakojantis apie galingiausią pasaulio mafiją, įsikūrusią Italijoje. Sutinku, kad tai kūrinys ne kiekvienam skaitytojui. Mėgstantiems vien tik grožinę literatūrą, kitaip tariant, rašytojo fantazijos vaisių, kuriame tiek siužetas, tiek veikėjai - išgalvoti (aišku, kontekstas gali būti istorinis, kultūrinis, filosofinis ar kitoks), bus sunku įsijausti į šį, kuriame daug duomenų, įvairių žmonių liudijimų, laiškų ir nesumeluotų įvykių, sužlugdžiusių ne vieną gyvenimą, bet tuo pačiu atvėrusių italams akis ir leidusių šiai šaliai prabusti iš neveiksnumo liūno.
Tik pradėjusi skaityti, šiek tiek pasimečiau - daug vietovių, vardų, pavardžių ir apstu juos susaisčiusių ryšių. Ėmiau manyti, kad tokia gausa apsunkins tiek skaitymą, tiek bendrą istorijos suvokimą, tačiau klydau. Vos po keliasdešimties puslapių viskas sklandžiai susidėliojo į savo vietas ir nebegalėjau atplėšti akių nuo informatyvaus, įdomaus, įtraukiančio turinio, nuo mafijos vyrų brutalumo ir bejausmiškumo, nuo moterų, turinčių tokią stiprią valią ir didelį drąsos rezervą, kurio, kai tai liečia jų vaikus, nepajėgia nuslopinti jokie grasinimai, jokie veiksmai, jokia vyriška jėga.
Kūrinyje dominuoja trijų moterų istorijos - Leos (taip pat ir jos dukra Denisė atlieka svarbią rolę), Giuseppinos ir Concettos. Kiekvienos iš jų gyvenimai skirtingi, su vyrais, priklausančiais šiai mafijai, sieja kitokie ryšiai. Kažkam tai sutuoktinis, kažkam tėvas, brolis ar net mylimasis. Tiesa, ir jos pačios, jų amplua ir likimai labai skirtingi. Nenorėdama atskleisti per daug detalių, galiu pasakyti, kad jos ir drąsos, ryžto simbolis, ir šviesesnės ateities bei geresnio pasaulio ikonos.
Ne mažiau svarbų vaidmenį atlieka ir prokurorė Alessandra, kurios potyrių ir jausmų, atliekant tyrimą, bendraujant su mafijos žmonomis taip pat netrūksta. Ši veikėja - tarsi tiltas, jungiantis skaitytoją ir mafiją. Ji padeda suprasti pasaulį, kuris mums, paprastiems žmonėms, atrodo nesuvokiamas, tolimas. Vis dėlto, jis realus ir arčiau, nei galime įsivaizduoti.
Apie mafiją sukurtas ne vienas ir ne du filmai ar serialai (paminėti ir knygoje). Tačiau, kadangi „'Ndrangheta“ - tikra organizacija, žudymo būdai, kuriuos jie naudojo, mane sukrėtė, šokiravo ir, bandant vaizduotėje susidaryti to vizualą, ne kartą nupurtė šiurpas. Kamavo tik vienas klausimas, iš kur tiek šlykščios fantazijos? Be viso siaubo, šis kūrinys patvirtino, kad pasaulis, kuriame gyvename, kupinas materialinių išskaičiavimų, besiremiantis į nieką daugiau, tik į pinigus. Pastaruosius didžioji dalis žmonių bando gauti visais įmanomais būdais, nepaisant nieko - nei gyvybės, nei šeimos, nei moralinių vertybių.
Smurtas prieš moteris egzistuoja ir šiandien. Tačiau „'Ndranghetos“ brutalumas pasiekė giliausią dugną, kuriame ne tik vaikų gimdytojos išnaudojamos ar žudomos, bet ir patys palikuoniai, o berniukai nuo mažų dienų užauga supami ginklų ir amunicijos. Ar tokia turi būti vaikystė, ar tai augdami turi matyti vaikai? Ne. Aš net nežinau, kaip apibūdinti tai, ką pajutau. Visą pluoštą emocijų, pradedant išgąsčiu, baigiant pykčiu. Mane kankino klausimai, kaip tai įmanoma, kiek toli turi būti pažengusi priklausomybė pinigams, kad tėvui nerūpi jo paties kūno ir kraujo gyvybė? Ir visas tas barbariškumas Italijoje vyko keliolika ar keliasdešimt metų atgal, o kažkur, net neabejoju, vyksta ir dabar... Be abejo, tai labai simboliška knyga, kurią reikia perskaityti visiems. Kad geriau suprasti savo mamas, jų skausmą ir nerimą dėl mūsų, vaikų, kad labiau vertinti moterų indėlį į pasaulio santvarką, kad suvokti, jog pokyčiams - niekada nėra per vėlu.
Rekomenduoju, jeigu norite nusikelti į Italiją, kur drauge su prokurore Alessandra galėsite patyrinėti „'Ndranghetos“ praeitį, suprasti, kur slypi organizacijos ištakos, nuo ko prasidėjo šių trijų moterų istorijos, kur dar kartą įsitikinsite, kad motinos visada, visur ir visose situacijose dėl savo vaikų pasiryžusios padaryti visiškai bet ką, įskaitant ir savo gyvybės kainą. Siūlau, jeigu mėgstate tikras istorijas apie be galo stiprias moteris, kurios gali parklupdyti net manančius, kad visas pasaulis jiems po kojomis. Mano nuomone, tai dar vienas kūrinys, įrodantis, kad moterys niekada nebuvo, nėra ir nebus silpnoji lytis, nepajėgianti apginti savęs ar savo vaikų. Tai - dar viena knyga, įrodanti, kad tiesa visada triumfuoja, o kaltiesiems, anksčiau ar vėliau, tenka atsakyti.
5/5⭐
June 26, 2022
Iš pat pradžių buvau kaip „balta varna“ , nes su knyga „susidraugauti“ sekėsi lėtai ir gana sunkiai. Nepalengvino sunkiai ištariamos pavardės ir pavadinimai, sunkokai gaudžiausi su veikėjais: juos maišiau, sunkokai susidėliojau taškučius ant i. Tačiau perkopus +-70 puslapių, mane jau reikėjo stabdyti, kad visko neaprėpčiau vienu ypu.
„Bebaimės motinos“ – knyga ne tik apie trijų labai stiprių ir drąsių moterų gyvenimo istoriją ir pasipriešinimą vienai įtakingiausių, žiauriausių ir stipriausių Italijos mafijų, bet kartu ir istorija, supažindinanti su kitokia Italijos dalimi ir Italijos mafijos " 'Ndranghetos"atsiradimu.
„Iki naujojo tūkstantmečio antrojo dešimtmečio pradžios, „‘Ndranghetos“ gauja bene visais atžvilgiais buvo galingiausias kriminalinis sindikatas žemėje.“
Istorija tikrai šokiruojanti ir nepaprastai žiauri. Italijos mafijos moterys (žmonos ir net dukros) šaltakraujiškai išnaudojamos, valdomos ir jei prireikia- žudomos.
„Jie su savo moterimis elgiasi kaip su mėšlu. Bet jeigu nuo jų nors viena pabėga, visiems jiems žemės iš po kojų ima slysti.“
Tikrai ne vieną kartą kilo mintis „kaip galima būti tokia „aklam“ tave supančiam pasauliui“ , tačiau vėliau puikiai supranti, kad daugelis jų net nėra matę kitokio pasaulio. Kad jei auginsi vaiką, pateikdamas jam tik vieną medalio pusę, jis apie kitą medalio pusę net nenutuoks..
„Negali trokšti kitokio pasaulio, apie kurio egzistavimą nežinai.“
Nepaisant to, kaip sunkiai man sekėsi įsijausti į pasakojimą pradžioje, bendrai visa istorija nepaprastai patiko ir galiausiai įtraukė. Šokiruojantys faktai, tikra istorija ir nepaneigiamas pasakojimas visumoje buvo labai įdomus ir norėjosi, kad knyga nebesibaigtų.
„Bebaimės motinos“ – knyga ne tik apie trijų labai stiprių ir drąsių moterų gyvenimo istoriją ir pasipriešinimą vienai įtakingiausių, žiauriausių ir stipriausių Italijos mafijų, bet kartu ir istorija, supažindinanti su kitokia Italijos dalimi ir Italijos mafijos " 'Ndranghetos"atsiradimu.
„Iki naujojo tūkstantmečio antrojo dešimtmečio pradžios, „‘Ndranghetos“ gauja bene visais atžvilgiais buvo galingiausias kriminalinis sindikatas žemėje.“
Istorija tikrai šokiruojanti ir nepaprastai žiauri. Italijos mafijos moterys (žmonos ir net dukros) šaltakraujiškai išnaudojamos, valdomos ir jei prireikia- žudomos.
„Jie su savo moterimis elgiasi kaip su mėšlu. Bet jeigu nuo jų nors viena pabėga, visiems jiems žemės iš po kojų ima slysti.“
Tikrai ne vieną kartą kilo mintis „kaip galima būti tokia „aklam“ tave supančiam pasauliui“ , tačiau vėliau puikiai supranti, kad daugelis jų net nėra matę kitokio pasaulio. Kad jei auginsi vaiką, pateikdamas jam tik vieną medalio pusę, jis apie kitą medalio pusę net nenutuoks..
„Negali trokšti kitokio pasaulio, apie kurio egzistavimą nežinai.“
Nepaisant to, kaip sunkiai man sekėsi įsijausti į pasakojimą pradžioje, bendrai visa istorija nepaprastai patiko ir galiausiai įtraukė. Šokiruojantys faktai, tikra istorija ir nepaneigiamas pasakojimas visumoje buvo labai įdomus ir norėjosi, kad knyga nebesibaigtų.
February 29, 2020
Difficult yet riveting book. Non fiction is not my go to genre but when the story is interesting & this was, & it read like a crime novel, I soaked it right in.
I was captivated with Lea & Diane's story right for page 1. Parts of the older history were important to the overall progression of the mafia but yet I did not find that part of the story interesting.
Hard for me to believe that much of the stories told here about the mafia families, towns & actions actually took place in the 2000's. Life was archaic, barbaric & in many ways, tragic.
Finally, the younger moms who knew there had to be a better way, they started to question & speak out, they did it so their children could find a new & hopefully a better life. They put themselves at high risk, as we read about & yet they became stronger with time.
I am still in shock by the behavior of not just the men, but the mothers of these women & the grandmothers....A life style so ingrained .....
There were an amazing number of strong, professional women & who stepped up & worked for & with these women who along with their female relatives, had been enslaved & oppressed & abused for years.
Thank you to my daughter-in-law for gifting this book to me.
I was captivated with Lea & Diane's story right for page 1. Parts of the older history were important to the overall progression of the mafia but yet I did not find that part of the story interesting.
Hard for me to believe that much of the stories told here about the mafia families, towns & actions actually took place in the 2000's. Life was archaic, barbaric & in many ways, tragic.
Finally, the younger moms who knew there had to be a better way, they started to question & speak out, they did it so their children could find a new & hopefully a better life. They put themselves at high risk, as we read about & yet they became stronger with time.
I am still in shock by the behavior of not just the men, but the mothers of these women & the grandmothers....A life style so ingrained .....
There were an amazing number of strong, professional women & who stepped up & worked for & with these women who along with their female relatives, had been enslaved & oppressed & abused for years.
Thank you to my daughter-in-law for gifting this book to me.
April 21, 2019
Fascinating look at how the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, operates and how it was cut down to size in Italy by some dedicated prosecutors aided by women insiders who wanted a better life for themselves and their children. Perry's theme is that the women members of the clan are important players, and getting to them is the way to get to the heart of the criminal organization.
The book is a good read, and apparently well-researched. But I would have liked to see more about what women inside do, besides run messages and occasionally drugs. Are some involved in making decisions? Does their power really lie only in what they might be able tell investigators?
In many macho societies, men make most of the decisions, but women have a large say in how the household is run and the children are raised. This would seem not to be the case here, despite what Perry says. Their power only comes from what they might tell the outside, and their men conspire to make sure they are too afraid to do that. The four women Perry writes about are courageous exceptions.
The book is a good read, and apparently well-researched. But I would have liked to see more about what women inside do, besides run messages and occasionally drugs. Are some involved in making decisions? Does their power really lie only in what they might be able tell investigators?
In many macho societies, men make most of the decisions, but women have a large say in how the household is run and the children are raised. This would seem not to be the case here, despite what Perry says. Their power only comes from what they might tell the outside, and their men conspire to make sure they are too afraid to do that. The four women Perry writes about are courageous exceptions.
July 7, 2018
An astonishing and courageous book
I usually listen to my books In the car only. But the content and the manner in which the book is written had me listening at every opportunity. I am familiar with the mafiosi of Sicilia, Napoli and Calabria. And the Ndrangheta is by far the most infiltrated into many countries and their daily dealings.
With the zeitgeist of #metoo, this book is timeous and captures that most eloquently.
I usually listen to my books In the car only. But the content and the manner in which the book is written had me listening at every opportunity. I am familiar with the mafiosi of Sicilia, Napoli and Calabria. And the Ndrangheta is by far the most infiltrated into many countries and their daily dealings.
With the zeitgeist of #metoo, this book is timeous and captures that most eloquently.
October 15, 2022
If you in the mafia, no matter if you are a woman or not, you must be loyal or else there will be no life ahead. Womans who are daughters of mafia bosses or married with one of them..their life is in the mafia, if you betray them, then it will have a cost.
When a prosecutor, Alessandra Cerreti, had an idea of contacting mistreated or vulnerable womans from the italian mafia to gain proves to able build criminal cases against the Ndrangheta, which at the start had a good outcome and results. But didn’t last long, when the mafia showed their dark side, when they kill of the members of the family, Lea Garofalo, due to treason.
The mafia doesn’t show flexibility or mercy when someone turn their back, especially if comes from a wife, daughter, niece or granddaughter.
(True Story!)
4 ⭐️
When a prosecutor, Alessandra Cerreti, had an idea of contacting mistreated or vulnerable womans from the italian mafia to gain proves to able build criminal cases against the Ndrangheta, which at the start had a good outcome and results. But didn’t last long, when the mafia showed their dark side, when they kill of the members of the family, Lea Garofalo, due to treason.
The mafia doesn’t show flexibility or mercy when someone turn their back, especially if comes from a wife, daughter, niece or granddaughter.
(True Story!)
4 ⭐️
January 27, 2019
Many a true crime novel has been dedicated to the mafia in one form or another. Its history has been sprawled across so many pages that it is hard to not have a little knowledge about them and what they have done. But one common thread in all these books is the focus on the lives of men in these families. So what becomes of the weaves and daughter of the powerful men, can they live with knowing what their husbands do and where the money comes from. This is where the author starts his book. These women have a hard life stuck at the whims of the males in their families. It strikes me that for them the only way out they can see is to be murdered. How can living in constant fear be any way to live your life. There is no free will allowed to them, Having seen up close what controlling men can do to women it is a very terrifying sight to see.
It is the disappearance of one Young wife that spurs on one prosecutor to act. Things need to change and in a fight against a group of people who are whiling to kill anyone who gets in there way it is a fight that will take everything they have. For me, it takes a look at something that for far too long has been overlooked. For to often, we have assumed the complicity of these women. In taking us in to there lives we get a real eye-opening look at what really goes on. For these women, it takes every ounce of courage they have to stand up and allow their voices to be heard loud and clear. This book for me turned my head upside down. I learned a lot from reading the pages of this book, the 'Ndrangheta are group most of us have not heard of but this doesn't make them any less dangerous. For a hundred and fifty years they have cut a bloody path through southern Italy
The author walks an amazingly fine line as he tells the story of these women alongside the hunt to bring these men to justice. Throughout the book plenty of time is devoted to backing up there stories with the facts that give great credence to the lives these women have been forced to live. At times it is truly shocking the violence that they have suffered. For me, I think it takes so much to stand up when you already know the probable outcome is for your body to never been found. It is a battle that is hard fought and you can not feel the greatest respect for them. It is also the danger the author puts himself in, in telling their story. For me he managed to pull off with great success, I could not put this book down as I become captivated by the stories of everyone concerned. Maybe it's just to easy to become oblivious to the lives of others as we live in the bubble of our own lives.
If like me you have read a great many books about the Italian mafia I feel this book will show you the other side of what happens. That sometimes it takes a few brave women to start a change that can affect the lives of so many others in the region and the country they live in. I highly recommend this book it's well written and contains a whole bunch of pictures to give faces to the names. If you want some new true crime novel to jump into I suggest you go grab your self a copy.
It is the disappearance of one Young wife that spurs on one prosecutor to act. Things need to change and in a fight against a group of people who are whiling to kill anyone who gets in there way it is a fight that will take everything they have. For me, it takes a look at something that for far too long has been overlooked. For to often, we have assumed the complicity of these women. In taking us in to there lives we get a real eye-opening look at what really goes on. For these women, it takes every ounce of courage they have to stand up and allow their voices to be heard loud and clear. This book for me turned my head upside down. I learned a lot from reading the pages of this book, the 'Ndrangheta are group most of us have not heard of but this doesn't make them any less dangerous. For a hundred and fifty years they have cut a bloody path through southern Italy
The author walks an amazingly fine line as he tells the story of these women alongside the hunt to bring these men to justice. Throughout the book plenty of time is devoted to backing up there stories with the facts that give great credence to the lives these women have been forced to live. At times it is truly shocking the violence that they have suffered. For me, I think it takes so much to stand up when you already know the probable outcome is for your body to never been found. It is a battle that is hard fought and you can not feel the greatest respect for them. It is also the danger the author puts himself in, in telling their story. For me he managed to pull off with great success, I could not put this book down as I become captivated by the stories of everyone concerned. Maybe it's just to easy to become oblivious to the lives of others as we live in the bubble of our own lives.
If like me you have read a great many books about the Italian mafia I feel this book will show you the other side of what happens. That sometimes it takes a few brave women to start a change that can affect the lives of so many others in the region and the country they live in. I highly recommend this book it's well written and contains a whole bunch of pictures to give faces to the names. If you want some new true crime novel to jump into I suggest you go grab your self a copy.
March 9, 2025
A compelling story about the Italian justice system bringing some level of justice to the region of Calabria. The ‘Ndrangheta is an organized crime syndicate that basically victimized their family, particularly the women and children. If you were born into it, the message was you can’t leave.
The book starts with the story of Lea, who thinking she was escaping the family business marries a man who tricked her into the relationship by claiming he wanted to leave the ’Ndrangheta. Instead, he married her to elevate his status in the organization because Lea’s father was a respected mafia boss.
There are really five women at the heart of the story. Lea and her daughter Denise, Giuseppina, Concetta, and Alessandra.
When Lea attempts to take her daughter and leave her brutal husband, she enters the witness protection system. Ultimately the system fails her. Her husband lures her back with promises and then murders her. It’s heartbreaking to understand how the daughter Denise must hide her emotions to stay alive when she knows her father killed her mother and her entire family is complicit.
Alessandra is the prosecutor from Sicily. Her conviction to rein in the ‘Ndrangheta means she never has children and lives in a compound to stay alive. But she is the one who sees that the Calabria mafia have used the "family is everything” as a tool to keep their mothers, wives, sisters and daughter in a slave-like existence. It’s total hypocrisy because any woman who brings shame to the family, is murdered, most likely by a family member. Alessandra sees that helping the ’Ndrangheta women escape is the way to break the ruthless hold the mafia has on their families.
Concetta and Guiseppina are childhood friends and both leave and enter the witness protection system. They leave so their children can have a better life, yet that’s how they are both pulled back by their heartless relatives. Their own mothers and fathers use the children to get back at the two women. It’s heartbreaking.
There’s no happy ending, only an insight into how far-reaching the ‘Ndrangheta operation was … buying foreign debt to extort countries to let them use places like Thailand as a base to expand their criminal enterprises. The biggest irony is that while the ‘Ndrangheta were powerful and wealthy, mostly they lived like peasants to keep up the pretense, or lived for years in bunkers or in prison. All that power and money only gave them a false sense of honor, nothing more. And in the process they terrorized their families, communities, and an entire region for over a hundred years. While the prosecutions diminished their influence, it didn’t end the cycle of violence.
The book starts with the story of Lea, who thinking she was escaping the family business marries a man who tricked her into the relationship by claiming he wanted to leave the ’Ndrangheta. Instead, he married her to elevate his status in the organization because Lea’s father was a respected mafia boss.
There are really five women at the heart of the story. Lea and her daughter Denise, Giuseppina, Concetta, and Alessandra.
When Lea attempts to take her daughter and leave her brutal husband, she enters the witness protection system. Ultimately the system fails her. Her husband lures her back with promises and then murders her. It’s heartbreaking to understand how the daughter Denise must hide her emotions to stay alive when she knows her father killed her mother and her entire family is complicit.
Alessandra is the prosecutor from Sicily. Her conviction to rein in the ‘Ndrangheta means she never has children and lives in a compound to stay alive. But she is the one who sees that the Calabria mafia have used the "family is everything” as a tool to keep their mothers, wives, sisters and daughter in a slave-like existence. It’s total hypocrisy because any woman who brings shame to the family, is murdered, most likely by a family member. Alessandra sees that helping the ’Ndrangheta women escape is the way to break the ruthless hold the mafia has on their families.
Concetta and Guiseppina are childhood friends and both leave and enter the witness protection system. They leave so their children can have a better life, yet that’s how they are both pulled back by their heartless relatives. Their own mothers and fathers use the children to get back at the two women. It’s heartbreaking.
There’s no happy ending, only an insight into how far-reaching the ‘Ndrangheta operation was … buying foreign debt to extort countries to let them use places like Thailand as a base to expand their criminal enterprises. The biggest irony is that while the ‘Ndrangheta were powerful and wealthy, mostly they lived like peasants to keep up the pretense, or lived for years in bunkers or in prison. All that power and money only gave them a false sense of honor, nothing more. And in the process they terrorized their families, communities, and an entire region for over a hundred years. While the prosecutions diminished their influence, it didn’t end the cycle of violence.
November 30, 2022
Na leidykla briedis tikrai ir vėl pasistengė. Paskutiniu metu pastebiu, kad mano knygų lentyna vis pildo knygos paremtos realiais faktais. Ne išimtis ir šis, pasakojantis apie galingiausią pasaulio mafiją, kuri įsikūrusi Italijoje. Tik pradėjusi skaityti, tikrai buvau ne vieną ir ne du kartus šiek tiek pasimetusi – daug visokiausių vietovių, vardų, pavardžių ir dar nepalengvino situacijos, kad juos saistė kažkoks ryšys. Tačiau skaitant toliau vis buvo įdomiau ir įdomiau. Viskas puikiai susidėliojo į savo vietas ir norėjosi vis skaityti, kad sužinočiau kas ir kaip vyko toliau. Knygoje aprašyta istorija tikrai ne kiekvienam. Ji šokiruojanti, žiauri, tačiau tuo pačiu įdomi ir nepaprasta. Nors tikrai galiu pasakyti, kad sunkiai sekėti įsijausti į pasakojimą, bet bendrai istorija patiko ir labai įtraukė. Siūlyčiau tiems, kurie mėgstate tikras istorijas apie be galo, tikrai be galo, stiprias moteris. Tai tik įrodymas, kad nei viena moteris nėra silpnoji lytis ir jei tik yra noro jos gali pasiekti visko, kaip tarkim šioje knygoje parklupdyti taip manančius apie jas. Tikrai rekomendacija.
November 2, 2024
This book is a great resource on the mafia -- how it began and the all-consuming damaging effects it has on individuals and societies. I was so impressed by the courage of these featured women, as well as the police detectives, that could see the extensive threat of the mafia and who did their part to stand up to it. I'm sure there are even more stories out there. The world could use more of that kind of courage and grit.
As far as the book itself, the things that I didn't like were how the narrative skipped around and how depressing it was. I mean, yeah, we're reading about the mafia here, but I don't think I'll ever pick up this book again or even recommend it to anyone except maybe mafia enthusiasts (?) because it's a heavy read.
As far as the book itself, the things that I didn't like were how the narrative skipped around and how depressing it was. I mean, yeah, we're reading about the mafia here, but I don't think I'll ever pick up this book again or even recommend it to anyone except maybe mafia enthusiasts (?) because it's a heavy read.
December 14, 2022
This book is very informational, though it does read as a novel too. I guess I've been oblivious to this huge crime syndicate, and was kind of floored by the depth and the extent of their reach. I have to admit I did skim/scan some parts, but enjoyed following the mothers' lives and their attempts to escape the life of the mafia family.
May 31, 2018
Amazing book - captivating from the first page. Pulls you into the characters' lives and stories while also providing a broad view of the investigation and prosecution Calabrian Mafia as a whole.
May 31, 2018
Received this ARC from Westwinds Bookshop, Duxbury, MA
Interesting non-fiction story about a mafia most of us have never heard of.
Interesting non-fiction story about a mafia most of us have never heard of.
June 5, 2018
Enjoyed it a lot. Detailed review later
April 7, 2025
za mě je kniha podána trochu špatným stylem.
February 17, 2018
I won this book as part of a Goodreads giveway. This is only my second true crime book I have ever read. It was an enlightening book about the way the mafia operated and the role women played in bringing down generations of crime and extortion. It was well researched.
October 28, 2018
I was fascinated by this book! The courage of the women of this gigantic mafia was astounding. The lives of all of the families were so shocking. A very interesting, factual and "eye opening" book of how the world really is. Highly recommend reading.
July 11, 2018
Coming soon to a theater near you: The Godmothers
This is my first NF mafia read. And I was not disappointed. While compelling, Mr. Perry avoids the cliché of a “big reveal”. Readers know early on that heroism comes at a cost. The language is straight-forward reporting...nothing flowery or presumptive. Naturally, the story would have been far more interesting had it been written by the magistrate or other (surviving) women whose lives we read about third-hand, but they didn’t. Better to have story told than the story told perfectly.
This is my first NF mafia read. And I was not disappointed. While compelling, Mr. Perry avoids the cliché of a “big reveal”. Readers know early on that heroism comes at a cost. The language is straight-forward reporting...nothing flowery or presumptive. Naturally, the story would have been far more interesting had it been written by the magistrate or other (surviving) women whose lives we read about third-hand, but they didn’t. Better to have story told than the story told perfectly.
January 29, 2019
Hard to believe a lot of what women and children of Mafia families endured and not long ago. How brave so many women were to put on record the terrible actions of their fathers and husbands, some enduring torture and death by trying to protect their children and loved ones from the violence. I learned a lot from this book which made me appreciate even more the love and support of a great family life.
December 9, 2018
The Good Mothers is a mafia story without humor, glamour, and glory. This is probably because it is true. Alex Perry tells the true stories of 4 women, 3 mafia women and 1 prosecutor who together helped take down hundreds of members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia in Italy. What made this book unique was how without the luxury of charismatic actors and dialogue and Hollywood magic, the mafia is no more than a (highly successful) criminal enterprise consisting of brutal animalistic men who commit countless unspeakable acts of violence, some against women and family members. The murders in the book, some of which are committed against the women of the title, and the manners of body disposal are terrifying and gut wrenching. Perry does a good job at writing them to feel that way.
The book also explains the cult like nature of the mafia in Italy. Children are essentially indoctrinated at a very young age and trained to be mafioso. Women are sheltered often to the point where they do not leave the house for weeks. It is not so much a "family" as it is an oppressive religion. The Good Mothers is an effective book. It dries up at times and at some points feels repetitive with the stories of the 3 key witnesses. However, on a whole, it is a unique story about a murderous group that has too often been glorified, and how some unlikely women heroically rose up to stop them.
The book also explains the cult like nature of the mafia in Italy. Children are essentially indoctrinated at a very young age and trained to be mafioso. Women are sheltered often to the point where they do not leave the house for weeks. It is not so much a "family" as it is an oppressive religion. The Good Mothers is an effective book. It dries up at times and at some points feels repetitive with the stories of the 3 key witnesses. However, on a whole, it is a unique story about a murderous group that has too often been glorified, and how some unlikely women heroically rose up to stop them.
February 15, 2018
I'm not normally a true crime fan but this was fascinating!
The story of how the misogyny and focus on 'honor" of the one of the largest mafia groups caused it's own destruction.
The 'Ndrangheta is one of the biggest, richest and far reaching crime syndicates you have never heard of. They run 70% of the cocaine and heroin in Europe, deal in prostitution and people smuggling, launder money on an industrial scale, and have enough financial knowledge and influence to destabilise governments. They are active in most countries but their power base is Calabria, Southern Italy.
The 'Ndrangheta enforce obedience and silence through fear and the absolute corruption of the most sacred of Italian structures: Family. Girls are married young to arranged alliances, they are expected to raise their sons to be ruthless and their daughters obedient and unquestioning. Beatings and isolation are routine - those that try to break away can expect their fathers, brothers, husbands or sons to be the ones to kill her, to dispose of the family's "shame". At the same time these women worked in family businesses, passed messages and kept the books - they knew who made the orders and who carried them out.
When an abused wife, Lea Garofalo, is murdered in 2009 after turning evidence against her Mafioso husband and being let down by the state, State Prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti realised that the mafia's misogyny is its greatest weakness. Over the next few years two more women came forward; Concetta and Giuseppina. Together with the evidence Lea had left and Lea's daughter Denise, these women would be instrumental in bringing down one of the biggest organised crime syndicates in the world.
The scope of influence the 'Ndrangheta is breath-taking, with an estimated earning of 53 billion euro a year (more than 3.5% of Italy's GDP). The brutality by which the families and fellow Calabrian's live is even more so - education is frowned upon, boys think prison is a mark of adulthood and those who speak out simply disappear - their bodies often dissolved in acid. In spite of the wealth the 'Ndrangheta has their area in Italy appears to be among the poorest - buildings are ramshackle, roads are full of potholes and parks are rubbish dumps - wealth is kept hidden and the rest of the community suffer in silence out of fear of reprisals.
This isn't just a story about breaking organised crime, this is a story about changing the entire mentality of a community and Italy as a whole. Perry has done a great job on the extensive research; citing documents, interviews, press articles and more.
If you are interested in organised crime, justice, or like me, are just fascinated by the scope of the "Ndrangheta's operation this is the book for you.
The story of how the misogyny and focus on 'honor" of the one of the largest mafia groups caused it's own destruction.
The 'Ndrangheta is one of the biggest, richest and far reaching crime syndicates you have never heard of. They run 70% of the cocaine and heroin in Europe, deal in prostitution and people smuggling, launder money on an industrial scale, and have enough financial knowledge and influence to destabilise governments. They are active in most countries but their power base is Calabria, Southern Italy.
The 'Ndrangheta enforce obedience and silence through fear and the absolute corruption of the most sacred of Italian structures: Family. Girls are married young to arranged alliances, they are expected to raise their sons to be ruthless and their daughters obedient and unquestioning. Beatings and isolation are routine - those that try to break away can expect their fathers, brothers, husbands or sons to be the ones to kill her, to dispose of the family's "shame". At the same time these women worked in family businesses, passed messages and kept the books - they knew who made the orders and who carried them out.
When an abused wife, Lea Garofalo, is murdered in 2009 after turning evidence against her Mafioso husband and being let down by the state, State Prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti realised that the mafia's misogyny is its greatest weakness. Over the next few years two more women came forward; Concetta and Giuseppina. Together with the evidence Lea had left and Lea's daughter Denise, these women would be instrumental in bringing down one of the biggest organised crime syndicates in the world.
The scope of influence the 'Ndrangheta is breath-taking, with an estimated earning of 53 billion euro a year (more than 3.5% of Italy's GDP). The brutality by which the families and fellow Calabrian's live is even more so - education is frowned upon, boys think prison is a mark of adulthood and those who speak out simply disappear - their bodies often dissolved in acid. In spite of the wealth the 'Ndrangheta has their area in Italy appears to be among the poorest - buildings are ramshackle, roads are full of potholes and parks are rubbish dumps - wealth is kept hidden and the rest of the community suffer in silence out of fear of reprisals.
This isn't just a story about breaking organised crime, this is a story about changing the entire mentality of a community and Italy as a whole. Perry has done a great job on the extensive research; citing documents, interviews, press articles and more.
If you are interested in organised crime, justice, or like me, are just fascinated by the scope of the "Ndrangheta's operation this is the book for you.
May 24, 2018
This was a really decent read! I loved the strong women in this, and how much I learnt about the Italian Mafia. It was both informative and a fun ride. Honestly a great non fiction book!
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