The Sisters Mallone: Una Storia Di Famiglia

Frankie Merelli has little luck in life. Wanting a quiet, loving woman who would keep his house while he catted aroundManhattan in the 50's, Frankie had the bad fortune to marry intothe family of the sisters Mallone (changed from Malloni when their grandfather moved into Hell's Kitchen with the Irish. Italian girls raised in a non-traditional family, Mary, Helen and Gracie are closer than close. Louisa Ermelino, author of "The Black Madonna", gives us a sweeping look at the Irish and Italian neighborhoods of 1930's NYC, when the girls were children, and backdrops their stories in the 1950's, when they've chosen very different ways of life. Ermelino's female characters are complex and bold; even Anona, the liquor-loving grandmother of the sisters, who raised them from childhood. Helen and Mary show sparks you never saw in the women of the 50's movies, and both dote on youngest sister Gracie, who had the misfortune to fall in love with Frankie Merelli. The men in their lives, aside from Frankie, are merely sketches, but there is action, vengeance, and plotting worthy of "The Sopranos" in this group of sisters.Peppered with Italian phrases and scenes from Hells Kitchen to the Stork Club and the Copa, Ermelino's story will make you visualize the movie well before you get to the end of the book. An excellent read!

I truly enjoyed this book. Even though I'm not Italian, I could appreciate the sense of sisterhood between the sisters. Read this book, you'll enjoy it!

This is a book about the ties of sisterhood. Mary, Helen and Gracie are completely different yet are bound together as sisters. They are tough and clever. When Gracie's husband is found to be a real loser, Mary and Helen put their heads together to teach him a lesson. I love these characters. The book is well written....I felt like I could have been one of the Mallone sisters.

What a wonderful book. The characters are so finely drawn and so interesting I wish I knew them. I literally couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.

This book stands out among the recent novels that I have read. The characters are compelling. The antagonism between the Irish and Italians was interesting.