The Family
Books | Fiction / Coming of Age
3.4
(143)
Naomi Krupitsky
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A DAZZLING DEBUT’ SARAH WINMAN ‘FOR FANS OF ELENA FERRANTE...STUNNING’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY ‘VIVID AND AUTHENTIC’ WASHINGTON POST ‘NAOMI KRUPITSKY'S WORDS SING...I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN’ JOANNA GLEN ‘GRIPPING...A TENSE, NUANCED DEBUT’ PLATINUM ‘VIVIDLY-DRAWN...BEAUTIFUL. I LOVED IT!’ CHRISTINA SWEENEY-BAIRD *A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick* *Book of the Month club* *One of Cosmopolitan’s Best Historical Fiction of 2021* *One of PopSugar’s Best New Books of 2021* ________________________________________________________ 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, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community: the Family. Sunday dinners gather them each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love. But the disappearance of Antonia’s father drives a whisper-thin wedge between the girls as they grow into women, wives, mothers, and leaders. And as they push against the boundaries of society’s expectations and fight to preserve their complex but life-sustaining friendship, 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. For fans of Elena Ferrante and Maggie O’Farrell, The Family introduces a stunning new voice in literary fiction. ‘A tense, engrossing novel’Booklist, starred review ‘A riveting story powerful in its realism’ Diane Chamberlain, author of Big Lies in a Small Town ‘A tremendous debut’ Fiona Davis, author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue ‘Loyalty, love, loss and redemption take this well told tale to a searing conclusion’ Adriana Trigiani ‘Krupitsky beautifully captures Sofia and Antonia’s day-to-day lives under never-ending tension’ Publishers Weekly ‘Fast-paced and readable’ Kirkus Reviews ‘A nuanced evocation of lifelong female friendship in all its shifting, messy, gorgeous complexity’ Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light ‘Lyrical, gripping, and richly evocative’ Christina Schwarz, author of Drowning Ruth and Bonnie ‘Sweeping and consuming’ Susie Orman Schnall, author of We Came Here to Shine ‘A powerful story of friendship and loyalty...exquisite’ Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls
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More Details:
Author
Naomi Krupitsky
Pages
368
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Published Date
2021-11-02
ISBN
000849147X 9780008491475
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"The present tense writing didn’t work for me. Many of the reviews talk of it missing more action. I didn’t feel that way. The plot was solid…the relationships and friendship we experienced as readers …. got the flavor of the 50’s and New York ….in general it was almost great. I would give this author another go for her second book"
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Jfly winslow
"Very character-driven mafia story, but I couldn't connect with any of the characters."
Ricki Marking-Camuto
"Too long for the plot to develop. Sophia and Julia are best of friends whose fathers are both in The Family aka the mafia. Antonia’s father wants out, so he starts skimming money, and is killed. Fast forward and Antonia and Sophia each marry men who work for The Family. Sophia’s husband, Saul, wants to make more money and is caught working for a rival family. With Saul’s life on the line, Sophia, Antonia and her husband, Paola, save him by killing the man who was going to kill Saul and make it appear to be done by the rival Family. "
Katie Daly
"Was really looking forward to reading this book, it had its moments but overall it fell flat for me and the ending was completely unrealistic. "
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Viviane Morgan
"I know that lots of people loved this book, but it just fell short of my expectations. <br/><br/>First of all, I felt that Carlo’s “disappearance” should have been described in all its horrific detail—to the reader. Sure, the characters will never know what happened, but in a book about The Family, that violence needs to be front and center. <br/><br/>Next, I didn’t feel the connection between Antonia and Sofia was as powerful as it should have been. Wasn’t that the point of the novel? Did they even talk to each other? The descriptions of their feelings never came through interaction and dialogue. It was always the author TELLING us instead of showing us. <br/><br/>Also, I feel like very important historical events were just dropped in here and there and didn’t give me the essence of that period of time. <br/><br/>On the bright side, Naomi Krupitsky is a very good writer. She does a beautiful, poetic job of describing the characters’ thoughts. I think more dialogue and character interaction would have made this book more compelling. This book, her debut, just didn’t work for me."
Diane Oravec
"Well, that was boring. A whole lot was said without really anything happening until the end, and even that was confusing."
Liesl Prentice
"It is so very boring. I struggled to get through the whole thing, and I would have stopped reading if my OCD would allow. The plot is mediocre at best. Sorry to be so negative but I spent too much time on this book haha"
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Courtney Wales
"I love a good mafia family story! This was a good story! "
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Keri Douglas
"I loved everything about this book!"
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Shelly Wresinski
