The Family

Naomi Krupitsky’s debut novel The Family considers the roles of young women born into male-dominated families with ties to the mafia. Through the friendship of Antonia Russo and Sofia Colicchio, Krupitsky delivers a searing narrative about what it means to have and hold power for young women in the 1940s and 50s.

Joey Colicchio is a boss; the men who work under him gather at the family apartment for weekend dinners as his daughters help their mother prepare and serve the meal. His eldest, Sofia, is hungry for the power she sees her father wield, and as she ages the need to be more than an observer grows wild inside her. It intensifies when her best friend Antonia’s father, Carlo—also a Family man—disappears. Sofia knows there is danger in what her father does, but she isn’t afraid of it. As Antonia and Sofia age, Krupitsky dives into the politics of WWII.

While there are a few predictable turns in the narrative, for fans of The Sopranos who always wanted to know what life growing up was like for Janice, or for readers who love strong female protagonists, The Family is a must-read.