The Family by Naomi Krupitsky -a Review

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Description:
A captivating debut novel about the tangled fates of two best friends and daughters of the Italian mafia, and a coming-of-age story of twentieth-century Brooklyn itself.

Two daughters. Two families. One inescapable fate.

Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, a loud, untamed thing. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends from birth, their homes share a brick wall and their fathers are part of an unspoken community that connects them all: the Family. Sunday dinners gather the Family each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love.

Until Antonia’s father dares to dream of a different life and goes missing soon after. His disappearance drives a whisper-thin wedge between Sofia and Antonia as they become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. Both women are pushing against the walls of a prison made up of expectations, even as they remain bound to one another, their hearts expanding in tandem with Red Hook and Brooklyn around them. One fateful night their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested. Only one of them can pull the trigger before it’s too late.

Review:

The Family by Naomi Krupitsky is an excellent historical standalone novel.  The story starts in the 1920’s in Brooklyn, focusing on two daughters in two Italian Mafia families.  In most mafia stories, the men take center stage, but in The Family, the entire book centers on Sofia Colicchio and Antonia Russo; who have been best friends from birth.  With both fathers, who live next door to each other, part of the mob, Antonia and Sofia were inseparable since childhood, as we got to see them starting at an early age; Sunday dinners always had both families together.

As they reach their early teenage years, things change when Antonia’s father, who wanted out of the mob, disappeared (killed) which caused a slight separation between the girls, but Antonia continued to attend the Sunday dinners, but her devasted mother, Lina no longer attending.  Sofia was the free spirited and untamed one, knowing her father (who was now in charge of his own territory) would give her anything; Antonia is quieter and very observing.  But both girls still trusted each other, knew each of their strengths and weakness, as well as dependent on each other if needed.

As the girls get older, they find themselves surprisingly marrying members of the Family, which they thought they would never do.   Antonia falls in love with Paolo, and immediately becomes pregnant.   Sofia at first decides to play with Saul, a Jewish man, who accepts a job with the family, and in a short time when she too gets pregnant, decides to marry him.  Her father, accepts their marriage, if Saul would change his name, and religion to become Italian, (since he has the power to get the church to accept this). Together Sofia, who was unsure of herself having a baby, and Antonia, who was confident, becomes even closer, helping each other out.  It will be Sofia, who will step in and help Antonia with her depression and eventually help her recover.  They have an amazing bond.

We follow Sofia and Antonia throughout their 20 plus years, as they grew together, with some blips along the way, and dealing with various issues, such their crime family, the disappearance of a father, husbands dealing with intense situations, friendship fading and coming back together, and their own children.   To say too much more would ruin the book for you, as you need to read this from start to finish.  At times this was a bit slow, but the last 1/3 of the book was very exciting.  The end was well done, but was left things a bit open. I wholly suggest you read The Family, which was very well written by Naomi Krupitsy.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher