THE GODMOTHER

A glancing account of women’s roles in the making of the Italian underworld.

There are few women with the polish of Carmela Soprano in Rome-based journalist Nadeau’s account of their role in the Camorra, the Naples-centered branch of the organized crime system that thrives on “fear and complacency” and infiltrates “every layer of Italian life.” Hundreds of such women are involved, some in central positions of power but most relegated to subsidiary roles in an old-fashioned, patriarchal business. The author focuses, a little too much, on one character, Assunta Maresca (1935-2021). Known as Pupetta, or “little doll,” Maresca evinced a murderous streak and, at the end of her long life, a fierce lack of repentance for any of her crimes. Indeed, she was a pioneer in the criminal world. Now, writes the author, “in the Camorra especially, where Pupetta thrived, women are making far more progress climbing the ladder and being treated as equals than their law-abiding peers.” Most of them were born into the business, and those who were not tend to serve in lesser roles as drug mules or street hustlers. Some of those whom Nadeau interviews are knowing—one warns her not to take the elevator in a recently built structure since the Camorra-riddled construction trade takes many shortcuts in building safety—while others feign ignorance. A problem with the book is that Nadeau’s data set is much too small, sociologically speaking. It’s more anecdotal than empirical, though she does produce some useful statistics—e.g., more than 150 women are now in Italy’s prisons for Mafia-related crimes, “the highest number ever recorded.” Also 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.