Good mothers

The Achilles heel of the Italian mafia? Their wives! Few will be surprised to learn that the world's most powerful criminal organisation has its origins in Italy. But it is not the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, or even the Neapolitan Camorra, but 'ndrangheta, headed by descendants of shepherds and orange growers from poor Calabria, who have gained influence and wealth around the world through the drug trade, arms sales and money laundering. In an organisation based on loyalty, secrecy and family ties, men traditionally have the upper hand, as Lea Garofalo finds out when she decides to testify against her husband and one day simply "disappears". The prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti takes over the investigation and, unlike most of her colleagues, realises that misogyny is the Mafia's greatest weakness and convinces two Mafia mothers to cooperate. A fierce and bloody war breaks out in the south of Italy, and the entire globalised world becomes the battlefield... The true story of how women's emancipation helped uproot organised crime in Italy and beyond. Published in co-edition with Slovart Publishing House. "These women's painful and dangerous act of rebellion against their family made for a riveting and heartbreaking story." - Clare Longrigg, The Guardian "But the scope of The Good Mothers is wider - they are an indictment of the whole of today's toxic culture." - John Domini, The Washington Post