Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family

by Karen Tintori

Book Overview

Karen Tintori thought she knew her family tree. Her grandmother Josie had emigrated from Sicily with her parents at the turn of the century. They settled in Detroit, and with Josie' s nine siblings, worked to create a home for themselves away from the poverty and servitude of the old country. Their descendants were proud Italian-Americans.But Josie had a sister nobody spoke of. Her name was Frances, and at age sixteen she fell in love with a young barber. Her father wanted her to marry an older don in the neighborhood mafia---a marriage that would give his sons a leg up in the mob. But Frances eloped with her barber, and when she returned home a married woman, her fate was sealed. Even eighty years and two generations later, Frances was not spoken of, and her memory was suppressed.Unto the Daughters is a historical mystery and family story that unwraps the many layers of family, honor, memory, and fear to find an honor killing in turn-of-the-century Detroit. Tracing the history and insular world of Italian immigrants back to the old country, Karen Tintori shows what they came from, what they hoped for, and how the hopes and dreams of America fell far short for her great-aunt Frances. Nearly every family has a skeleton in its closet, an ancestor who sins against custom and tradition and pays a double price -- ostracism or worse at the time, and obliteration from the memory of succeeding generations. Few of these transgressors paid a higher price than Frances Costa, who was brutally murdered by her own brothers in a 1919 Sicilian honor killing in Detroit. And fewer yet have had a more tenacious successor than Frances's great-niece, Karen Tintori, who refused to allow the truth to remain forgotten. This is a book for anyone who shares the convinction that all history, in the end, is family history. -Frank Viviano, author of Blood Washes Blood and Dispatches from the Pacific Century Switching back and forth between rural Sicily and early 20th century Detroit, Unto the Daughters reads like a nonfiction version of the film Godfather II--if it had been told from the point of view of a female Corleone. In exploring her own family's secret history, Karen Tintori gives voice not just to her victimized aunt but to all Italian-American daughters and wives silenced by the power of omerta, Half gripping true-crime story, half moving family memoir, Unto the Daughters is both fascinating and frightening, packed with telling details and obscure folklore that help bring the suffocating world of a Mafia family to life. --Eleni N. Gage, author of North of Ithaka

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312334648
• ISBN13: 9780312334642
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Unto the daughters

Read the book twice, it is so interesting. Great read.

Superb storytelling

As an Italian-American from the Detroit area, I read with interest, Unto the Daughters. Karen Tintori has managed to somehow take a dark, hidden piece of her family's history and breathe life into players that have since died. Tintori pulls no punches with the brutality in which women in general were treated in Sicily and early first generation American families. The secretive nature of the Sicilian culture resonates within Unto the Daughters. Hearing it had been compared to Godfather II, I had a difficult time visualizing how that could be, but once I started reading, the comparison is on point, especially the way Tintoi weaves her story between modern day Detroit and the Sicilian town of Corleone. Her great aunt, the heroin, becomes a real, living person, even though only one photo, a shred of the proof (along with a scratched-out passport) that she existed, is all that survived. Tintori's background as a journalist is present throughout, as she effortlessly supplies her descriptive storytelling with facts of Sicilian and early first-generation culture and geography throughout. A powerful, brave work whose pain, setting and tone is all too palpably real.

Fabulous

I found this book to be fantastic. Not only was it extremely well written, but, it is so incredible to get such insight into a family history. After reading this book, I wanted to dig deep into my family history and see what kind of "secrets" I could find.

Awesome Read

Unto the Daughters was a great read. There was a great sense of understanding this family and how things happened. I was impressed with the great research into the lives of everyone! A Great Book Club book with tons of discussion.

Unto The Daughters- Karen Tintori

Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American FamilyHi Everyone: For all the Italians and other ethnic backgrounds. Unto the Daughters Is a true story written by Karen Tintori. I enjoyed it very much and couldn't put it down until I was done. It is written with honesty, history, intrigue and traditions of Italians coming to America. A piece of history that is a must to know. Now, I know where all my family traditions come from. It was sad at times and the struggles were horendous. It makes you think never loose site of where you came from. It really makes a difference and forms who you are. Hold on to it from generation to generation. Never let it fade away and let something else replace it. After all the struggles they had and the devotion to ones family. You have to respect the hard work,sacrifices and the tragedy's that where made. Just to have a better life for their children here in America. It would make an excellant movie. Well, done Congratulations Karen Lots of Love: Cathy Alexander(NH)

A Great Read!

This is a terrific book! It was truly a page turner. While most people do not house this type of skeleton in their family closet, we all have family secrets. It is only through dogged determination that they are revealed to us. Unto the Daughters is a true eye-opener into the life and times of Italian immigrants, their customs, their beliefs, and sadly in some cases, their reactions to circumstances out of their control. What a blessing that Ms. Tintori took the time to research this erased but not forgotten woman, to put it on paper to share with us all.