Italian Family

In old Bari, everyone knows Maria De Santis as “Malacarne,” the bad seed. Nicknamed for her dark features, volcanic temperament, and resistance to rules, the headstrong girl can only imagine the possibilities that lie outside her poverty-stricken neighborhood. Growing up with her mother, two brothers, and a tyrannical father, Maria must abide. She does - amid the squalid life to which she was born, the cruelties of her small-minded neighbors, and violence in a constant threat of eruption.

After a harrowing voyage from Italy, during which his mother died, seven-year-old Vittorio arrives in Canada with his newborn half sister and is reunited with his estranged father, a dark, isolated, and angry figure he hardly knows. The story that follows spans two decades of Vittorio’s life within an immigrant Italian farming community in Southwestern Ontario, through his university years, and then into Africa where he goes to teach. At the center of Vittorio’s existence is his strained relationship with his father and with his half sister, Rita.

Everything I've done, everything I will do, there will be no regret. The world is a vicious place for a woman. It's even crueler to the daughter of the Ceann na Conairte - discarded, married off, left powerless. But I am no ordinary daughter of the mafia. Unlike every other mafia family, my mother was Melody Callahan, Bloody Mel, the Don of the Italian Mafia, and the Don didn't raise some precious mafia princess. Bone by bone she broke me first, so no one else could - and bone by bone, I pieced myself back together.

It is 1950 in glittering, vibrant New York City. Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-year-old daughter of a prosperous Italian grocer in Greenwich Village. The postwar boom is ripe with opportunities for talented girls with ambition, and Lucia becomes an apprentice to an up-and-coming designer at chic B. Altman’s department store on Fifth Avenue.

In the late 1800s, the residents of a small village in coastal Italy migrated to the promised land of America. They eventually settled in Roseto, Pennsylvania, where they re-created every detail of their former lives, including the centerpiece of Roseto’s colorful old-world tradition: the annual pageant for Our Lady of Mount Caramel—or “the Big Time,” as it’s called by the young women competing to be its Queen.

When the Mayor of a picturesque Italian town launches a new scheme to rejuvenate the community, his advertisement is read with interest and excitement by many. Zara is in her thirties and desperate to get on the property ladder. Tim and Lynda are retiring and need a project. Some are looking for a peaceful bolthole. Others hope to make a profit, start a business, escape a dull life or an unhappy relationship. And there is someone who just might be hiding their true motivation...

Italy, the late 80s. Leda is a bookish 10-year-old tomboy. Her life turns upside down when shady Nico moves to the North from Sicily. Determined not to let the bully ruin her life, Leda is dragged through a tornado of adventures that will transform both kids in the face of first crushes, weird adults, and family drama... This humorous and insightful coming of age tale will show you the Italy you never imagined, an exhilarating mix of sensuality, religion, and superstition set against the gorgeous backdrop of the serene countryside, the Alps, and the enchanting Island of Sardinia.

Italy, the 90s. Teen bookish tomboy Leda is torn between handsome, loyal Alex and her long-term feelings for childhood friend Nico, who's dark and unreliable. While Leda navigates through puberty, her parents' separation, and high school, her friendships develop in unpredictable ways. Both sweet Alex and hurtful Nico are hiding secrets that she will have to unravel to make sense of her own feelings and the infuriating, sizzling chemistry with her old friend turned enemy....

Eliza has a full house! When her three children grew up and moved out, she downsized to a smaller property...but now they're all back. Every room in the house is taken and Eliza finds herself sharing her bed with her eldest daughter and her daughter's pug. Combined with the online course she's trying to finish, plus her job to fit in, there just isn't the peace and quiet that Eliza needs.

Mirta è una giovane donna moldava trapiantata a Roma in cerca di lavoro. Alle spalle si è lasciata un mondo di miseria e sofferenza, e soprattutto Ilie, il suo bambino, tutto quello che ha di bello e le dà sostegno in questa vita di nuovi sacrifici e umiliazioni. Per primo Nunzio, poi la signora Mazzanti, "che si era spenta una notte di dicembre, sotto Natale, ma la famiglia non aveva rinunciato all'albero, ai regali e al panettone", poi Olivia e adesso Eleonora.

Ammu, figlia di un alto funzionario, lascia un marito violento e torna a casa con i suoi bambini, i gemelli Estha e Rahel, maschio e femmina. Ma nell’India meridionale dei tardi anni Sessanta, una donna divorziata come lei si ritrova priva di una posizione sociale riconosciuta, soprattutto se commette l’errore di innamorarsi di un paria.

After her marriage falls apart, Ursula Quinn is offered the chance to spend the summer working at a hotel on a beautiful island off the coast of Sicily. Excited by a new adventure, she sets off at once. At Residenza dei Tringali, Ursula receives a warm welcome from everyone except Alfio, son of the Tringali family. He gave up his life in Barcelona to help his mother Agata with the ailing business, and is frustrated with Ursula’s interference – and she in turn is less than impressed with his attitude. As they spend more time together, though, they begin to see each other in a different light.

It's 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing's that easy in Penny's family. For starters, she can't go swimming because her mother's afraid she'll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father's name is mentioned. And the two sides of her family aren?t speaking to each other!

Italy, 1943. The seeds of terror planted by Hitler have brought Allied forces to Italian soil. Young lovers separated by war—one near a Tuscan hill town, the other a soldier on the Sicilian front—will meet any challenge to reunite.

Stella has life under control - and that's the way she likes it. For 25 years, she's been the trusted assistant to a legendary fashion designer, but after her boss dies suddenly, she's left with nothing to do apart from clear the studio. It seems as though the life she wanted has vanished. She is lost - until one day she finds a house swap website and sees a beautiful old villa in a Southern Italian village. Could she really exchange her poky London flat for that?

One night before Christmas...two babies for the Italian! Sevastiano Cantarelli can barely believe Amy Taylor is real. After the lifetime of betrayal he’s experienced, her surprising sweetness is the ultimate threat to his cynical worldview! Unwrapping her innocence was a gift he couldn’t forget...but one he knows it wouldn’t be fair to repeat. Their encounter left Amy exhilarated - and wanted for the first time. She knows that walking away from the commanding Italian is the safest way to keep her heart intact.

All'inizio degli anni Settanta, in un clima di spaesamento generale, una madre ancora giovane scrive al figlio, sbandato e distante, scappato all'estero per motivi politici. Romanzo epistolare da cui emerge un interno famigliare lacerato e sordo, un intreccio di vite solitarie, come scrive Cesare Garboli, "fatte di passi sbagliati", di gelose intimità e di corrosive lontananze.

When Gina Bianchi returns to the beautiful Italian resort of Portofino to attend her father’s funeral, she is beset by vivid memories of World War 2, when she joined the Resistance, alongside her identical twin sister, Adele. In her childhood bedroom, Gina reads Adele’s diary, left behind during the war. As Gina learns the shocking truth about her sister, she’s compelled to face the harsh realities of her own past.

Che cosa è accaduto ad Amalia? Chi c'era con lei la notte in cui è morta? È stata davvero la donna ambigua e incontentabile che sua figlia si è sempre immaginata? L'indagine di Delia si snoda in una Napoli plumbea che non dà tregua, trasformando una vicenda di quotidiani strazi familiari in un thriller domestico che mozza il respiro.

Former head of the Bonnano crime family, Bill Bonnano, and former undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone (aka Donnie Brasco) have collaborated with David Fisher on a riveting thriller about organized crime.