The Godmother

Praise

One of our 51 Favorite Books of the Year: Washington Independent Review of Books


“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

“This biography of Pupetta is a colorful addition to the canon.” — Molly Young, Read Like the Wind Newsletter, The New York Times

“Meet ‘Lady Camorra,’ one of the first female mafia bosses, as she sips coffee and drums her black-lacquered fingernails on her kitchen table. ‘The Godmother’ takes the reader into the little-known role of the women that underpin Italy’s most ruthless mob families and are forced to reckon with the social and sexual codes governing the violent reality of mafioso rule.” –Sara Gay Forden, author of New York Times bestseller House of Gucci

“In this engrossing account, Nadeau (Roadmap to Hell: Sex, Drugs and Guns on the Mafia Coast) combines diligent research, hours of personal interviews, and vivid prose to immerse the reader in the world of Italian Mafia women… This look at the “feminine” side of the Mafia is a must for true crime fans.” –Publishers Weekly Starred Review

“The world of organized crime is so often portrayed in macho terms, Nadeau pulls back the curtain on the role of women. In a genre choked with pretenders and posers, this is the real thing. “The Godmother” hits its mark.” – The Toronto Star
 

“An unflinching portrait of one of the original divas of organized crime.” –Clare Longrigg, author, Mafia Women


“Nuanced and skillfully reported, Barbie Latza Nadeau’s work brilliantly reveals the unique prism of gender that both disenfranchises and facilitates women in the mafia.” –Koa Beck, author, White Feminism

“Valuable are Nadeau’s accounts of mob wives and daughters who have cashed in on “mafia chic.”  [The Godmother] is a good choice for Mafia completists and students of international crime.” –Kirkus reviews

“A vivid and colorful exploration of a secret, scandalous and often terrifying world . . . Nadeau is an expert field guide.”  –Maureen Callahan, author of New York Times bestseller American Predator

“Just when you thought there could not be a darker side to the Italian Mafia, Barbie Latza Nadeau has found it. This veteran reporter with the courage of a war correspondent ventures into a dangerous underworld where the women are as shrewd, ambitious, and often violent as the men who abuse and oppress them. Thrilling and heartbreaking all at the same time.” – Peter Houlahan, author of Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History