The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia

by Alex Perry

Overview

“Highly compelling . . . An impossible-to-put-down page-turner revealing the Mafia makeup and three courageous women who bore witness to save others.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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The Calabrian Mafia—known as the ’Ndrangheta—is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world. The ’Ndrangheta’s power derives from a 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.

In 2009, after one abused ’Ndrangheta wife was murdered for turning state’s evidence, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti approached two more mafia wives, persuading them to testify in return for a new future for themselves and their children.

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. Caught in the middle are three women fighting for their children and their lives. Not all will survive.

“An essential addition to the growing library on organized crime [that] puts the women . . . at the center of a story . . . Perry keeps the emphasis on the risks taken by a brave few Calabrian women . . . Pesce [is] a character worthy of Elena Ferrante.” —Washington Post

“A staggeringly impressive work of investigative reporting . . . A life changing read.” —Booklist, starred review

“Wow, this is something special.” —Nicholas Schmidle, The New Yorker

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062655639
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	796,353
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Alex Perry has written for The New Yorker, Time magazine, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Roads & Kingdoms, and others. He is the author of several nonfiction books and e-books including The Rift, Lifeblood, and Falling Off the Edge. He has earned numerous journalism awards, including honors from the Society of Publishers in Asia, the Foreign Press Association in London, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in Washington. A native of Philadelphia, he lives with his family near London.

Editorial Reviews

An essential addition to the growing library on organized crime [that] puts the women… at the center of a story… Perry keeps the emphasis on the risks taken by a brave few Calabrian women [who]… shattered the myth of mafia invulnerability… Pesce [is] a character worthy of Elena Ferrante.” — Washington Post

“Highly compelling… An impossible-to-put-down page-turner revealing the Mafia makeup and three courageous women who bore witness to save others.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Journalist Perry has crafted an enormously significant and compelling look at the modern world of the Italian mafia in this brilliant work… A staggeringly impressive work of investigative reporting… A life changing read.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Even today precious little is known about the ‘Ndrangheta. Perry’s account is wrenching and thorough.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Perry has ably pieced together a number of remarkable stories. His focus … [in his] fast-moving book … is on the women who, sickened by years of abuse and bullying, decided that they would take no more.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)

“The painful and dangerous process of these women’s rebellion against the family makes a gripping and heart-breaking narrative.” — The Observer (London)

“There has truly never been a better time to read about the brave women who brought down one of the most powerful organized crime outfits.” — Bustle

“Alex Perry takes us in to the patriarchal, ultra-violent world of the ‘Ndràngheta, Calabria’s powerful, drug-dealing mafia, and the stories of the women who have defied its iron grip.” — LitHub.com

TWITTER PRAISE UPON RELEASE OF NEW YORKER EXCERPT: “Both harrowing and heartening ... and told with Alex Perry’s usual verve.” — Tom Burgis, Financial Times

“Brilliant read.” — Devika Bhat, The Times (London)

“Wow, this is something special.” — Nicholas Schmidle, The New Yorker

“[A] tense, thriller-like examination of the ‘Ndrangheta’s ruthless modus operandi and the barbaric enforcement of its code of silence… Good mothers, seriously gutsy women.” — Sydney Morning Herald

“The Rift is an immensely readable, shocking and important book. An ambitious and controversial approach to answering some of the thorniest questions about Africa’s contradictions and its epic quest for freedom.”  — Jeanette Zwart, Shelf Awareness

“Everything I think, said better than I think it.” — Patrick Neate, author of Musungu Jim on The Rift

“A sharp-eyed look at contemporary Africa. Mr. Perry’s ability to capture the complexities of stories in which there are no clear heroes nor outright villains echoes again and again. Written with a clear eye after criss-crossing the continent, he offers telling glimpses of an Africa that defies stereotyping.” — The Economist on The Rift

“An epic, rich, endlessly surprising narrative of a fast-changing Africa by one of the few Western journalists to have spent enough time there to understand it. Calls to mind the best African writing of Ryszard Kapuscinski.”  — Douglas Rogers, author of The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe on The Rift

“[A] stunning book about the past, present, and future of Africa.... Candid, smart, and self-aware, this work is an impressive accomplishment that does more to give Western readers context for Africa’s current condition than any book in recent memory.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Rift

“Exploring modern Africa in all of its complexities...Perry’s arguments about the often deleterious effects of outsiders augment some of the scholarly literature by providing a human face to usually well-intentioned but misguided interlopers. A welcome addition to our understanding of Africa.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Rift

“This little gem of a book ... has an important story to tell, and Perry tells it with precision and gusto. As dramatic as anything you will read in fiction.” — The New York Times on The Rift

“Hoping Melania reads this story...” — Joan Walsh, The Nation

“Incredible.”  — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

“I am inordinately excited to read this book. This is ... *incredible*.” — Erin Ryan, The Daily Beast

“So, so good.” — Tim Selloh, NBC News

“This is fantastic.” — Alberto Nardelli, Buzzfeed

From the Publisher

Brilliant read.

Devika Bhat

There has truly never been a better time to read about the brave women who brought down one of the most powerful organized crime outfits.

Bustle

Alex Perry takes us in to the patriarchal, ultra-violent world of the ‘Ndràngheta, Calabria’s powerful, drug-dealing mafia, and the stories of the women who have defied its iron grip.

LitHub.com

TWITTER PRAISE UPON RELEASE OF NEW YORKER EXCERPT: “Both harrowing and heartening ... and told with Alex Perry’s usual verve.

Tom Burgis

Even today precious little is known about the ‘Ndrangheta. Perry’s account is wrenching and thorough.

Christian Science Monitor

The painful and dangerous process of these women’s rebellion against the family makes a gripping and heart-breaking narrative.

The Observer (London)

Journalist Perry has crafted an enormously significant and compelling look at the modern world of the Italian mafia in this brilliant work… A staggeringly impressive work of investigative reporting… A life changing read.

Booklist (starred review)

Perry has ably pieced together a number of remarkable stories. His focus … [in his] fast-moving book … is on the women who, sickened by years of abuse and bullying, decided that they would take no more.

Times Literary Supplement (London)

An essential addition to the growing library on organized crime [that] puts the women… at the center of a story… Perry keeps the emphasis on the risks taken by a brave few Calabrian women [who]… shattered the myth of mafia invulnerability… Pesce [is] a character worthy of Elena Ferrante.

Washington Post

“The Rift is an immensely readable, shocking and important book. An ambitious and controversial approach to answering some of the thorniest questions about Africa’s contradictions and its epic quest for freedom.” 

Jeanette Zwart

I am inordinately excited to read this book. This is ... *incredible*.

Erin Ryan

Wow, this is something special.

Nicholas Schmidle

A sharp-eyed look at contemporary Africa. Mr. Perry’s ability to capture the complexities of stories in which there are no clear heroes nor outright villains echoes again and again. Written with a clear eye after criss-crossing the continent, he offers telling glimpses of an Africa that defies stereotyping.

The Economist on The Rift

[A] tense, thriller-like examination of the ‘Ndrangheta’s ruthless modus operandi and the barbaric enforcement of its code of silence… Good mothers, seriously gutsy women.

Sydney Morning Herald

This is fantastic.

Alberto Nardelli

Incredible.” 

Adam Serwer

This little gem of a book ... has an important story to tell, and Perry tells it with precision and gusto. As dramatic as anything you will read in fiction.

The New York Times on The Rift

Hoping Melania reads this story...

Joan Walsh

An epic, rich, endlessly surprising narrative of a fast-changing Africa by one of the few Western journalists to have spent enough time there to understand it. Calls to mind the best African writing of Ryszard Kapuscinski.” 

Douglas Rogers

Everything I think, said better than I think it.

Patrick Neate

So, so good.

Tim Selloh

An essential addition to the growing library on organized crime [that] puts the women… at the center of a story… Perry keeps the emphasis on the risks taken by a brave few Calabrian women [who]… shattered the myth of mafia invulnerability… Pesce [is] a character worthy of Elena Ferrante.

Washington Post

TWITTER PRAISE UPON RELEASE OF NEW YORKER EXCERPT: “One female prosecutor in Italy believed that she could recruit mistreated, abused, and discarded Mafia women could help bring down the organization. She was right. This story is bananas.”  

Lauren Katzenberg

★ 2018-04-03
The highly compelling story of the women who dared to break omertà, the Mafia code of silence.In fully developing his subjects, Perry (The Rift: A New Africa Breaks Free, 2015, etc.) shows remarkable empathy for their plights. The women were raised in Calabria, the home to the 'Ndrangheta, an arm of the Mafia, just like the Camorra of Naples and the Cosa Nostra of Sicily. Italy cracked down on the Sicilian Mafia in the early 1980s, outlawing any relationship, even familial. By the mid-2000s, Cosa Nostra was a shadow of itself. Then the 'Ndrangheta stepped in, took over the narcotics trade, and expanded it to a multibillion-euro business. In 2009, a prosecutor named Alessandra Cerreti was assigned to Calabria, and her tireless work uncovered the truth. In this captivating true-crime narrative, the author paints a frightening and intimate picture of women's misery under the rule of organized crime. Many were denied education, they knew their sons would end up murderers, and their daughters married early and were routinely abused. They were part of the clan, and voluntarily or not, women worked as messengers, bookkeepers, and heads of the business when their husbands were "unavailable." In the mid-1990s, 'Ndrangheta wife Lea Garofalo left her husband, taking her daughter to inform against the Mafia. She spent years in the witness protection program; unfortunately, her witness produced no arrests. Garofalo and her daughter hid for years, knowing her husband was following them. She eventually attempted reconciliation, knowing full well she would likely be murdered. Fortunately, she was not the only woman who was fed up with the misogynist tyranny and oppression of the "family." Giuseppina Pesce and Maria Concetta Cacciola were friends and were ready to talk. Both had children, and their information proved to be priceless. Desperate, their families used their children to try to get them back for the singular purpose of murdering them.An impossible-to-put-down page-turner revealing the Mafia makeup and three courageous women who bore witness to save others.

Kirkus Reviews