The Good Mothers - The True Story of the Women Who Took On the World’s Most Powerful Mafia

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The electrifying, untold story of the women born into the most deadly and obscenely wealthy of the Italian mafias – and how they risked everything to bring it down.

The Calabrian Mafia—known as the ’Ndrangheta—is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world, with branches stretching from America to Australia. It controls seventy percent of the cocaine and heroin supply in Europe, manages billion-dollar extortion rackets, brokers illegal arms deals—supplying weapons to criminals and terrorists—and plunders the treasuries of both Italy and the European Union.

The ’Ndrangheta’s power derives from a macho mix of violence and silence—omertà. Yet it endures because of family ties: you are born into the syndicate, or you marry in. Loyalty is absolute. Bloodshed is revered. You go to prison or your grave and kill your own father, brother, sister, or mother in cold blood before you betray The Family. Accompanying the ’Ndrangheta’s reverence for tradition and history is a violent misogyny among its men. Women are viewed as chattel, bargaining chips for building and maintaining clan alliances and beatings—and worse—are routine.

In 2009, after one abused ’Ndrangheta wife was murdered for turning state’s evidence, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti considered a tantalizing possibility: that the ’Ndrangheta’s sexism might be its greatest flaw—and her most effective weapon. Approaching two more mafia wives, Alessandra persuaded them to testify in return for a new future for themselves and their children.

A feminist saga of true crime and justice, The Good Mothers is the riveting story of a high-stakes battle pitting a brilliant, driven woman fighting to save a nation against ruthless mafiosi fighting for their existence. Caught in the middle are three women fighting for their children and their lives. Not all will survive.

The ’Ndrangheta Uncovered: Go inside one of the world’s richest and most ruthless crime syndicates—a secret society more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia that controls seventy percent of Europe’s cocaine supply. Women Against the Mafia: Discover how a culture of violent misogyny became the ’Ndrangheta’s greatest weakness when a handful of women, treated as property, decided to fight back for the sake of their children. A High-Stakes Battle for Justice: Follow courageous prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti as she risks everything on an audacious strategy: turning the mafia’s own sexism into the weapon that could bring the entire organization down. A True Story of Survival: Based on years of fearless reporting, this riveting account follows the harrowing journeys of three women who dared to break the code of silence. Not all of them will make it out alive.