Grace by Susan BennettKindle Edition Published October 19th 2011
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book Synopsis
Four women are about to start a mob war – and nails WILL be broken.
Some epiphanies look like diamonds. Isabella Albrici's diamond shaped epiphany begins when her womanising husband, Domenic, frames her and her best friend Teresa for his diamond smuggling operation to save himself from jail. Prime targets for the prison’s resident psychopath, they’ll be lucky to survive jail, even luckier to survive if they get out – thanks to Domenic, ‘the family’ thinks Isabella is an FBI informant. The big house ain't no fun house, but for Isabella and Teresa, it’s the safest house there is – until the evidence keeping them there suddenly goes missing.
Ladies, you are free to go.
Ah, if it’s all the same to you – maybe we’ll just stay where we are.
No chance. Close the door on your way out.
Ah shit. Thanks very much.
Some epiphanies are shaped like diamonds – others, like bullets. Sometimes grace is received; sometimes grace has to be earned. For years, these mob wives have lived off the wages of sin, now the path to redemption is clear: they gotta whack their old men.
Welcome to the inaugural general meeting of the first chapter of the New Jersey Mob Suffragette’s Whack Club.
Salut.
MY THOUGHTSI am going to admit my sum total of knowledge of mafia wives comes from watching movies like "Good Fellas", "Married To The Mob" and "Casino". My only books featuring larger than life Italian women characters as the focus are those penned by Jackie Collins in her "Lucky Santangelo" series.
The stereotype of the big hair, the jewelry, the designer clothes and the attitude held true in the beginning when we are introduced to Isabella and Teresa. All that changes when they are put in prison, the minute the women understand they are no longer under the protection of "the family" and are on their own they become more "real". The two have always had a close bond, in prison that bond intensifies and grows to include a young African American inmate named Eve. Eve is young enough to be the women's daughter, and yet has seen more hardship and horrors in her short life than Isabella and Teresa can even begin to imagine.
After being put through many trials and tribulations from fellow inmates as well as the prison officials finally Isabella, Teresa and Eve are released. Isabella because the evidence disappears linking her to any crime, Eve on parole from her sentence and Teresa is taken to hospital after trying to commit suicide.
The story takes off after the three are taken one by one under the wing of a young Australian woman named Irish. A chance meeting between Isabella and Irish outside a bakery shop turns into a fantastic journey watching each of the characters as they transform over time. Following along each step of the way teaches the reader that second chances do happen if you are willing to grab it with both hands and never look back.
The journey is bumpy, the ride is long but the ending is very satisfying while at the same time leaving an opening for more adventures if the author is so inclined to continue to follow what happens to the women in the future.
If you ever had a yen to get involved with a "made man" read "Grace", it will change your mind! If you ever thought blood counted as the only way to identify "family", read "Grace" it will teach you the true meaning of "sisters under the skin"! If you are looking for a good book that will make you want to wring a dirty cheating spouses neck, cheer as women who lost everything find out they gained more than they ever lost, laugh out loud along with these same women as they learn how to laugh again and most of all cry when needed as there are scenes that just about kill you with the intensity of the emotions, if you want all that then read "Grace"!
[This was an ecopy provided by author in exchange for an honest review.]
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1 comments:
Great review, and mentioning Lucky Santangelo sure is a great trip down memory lane for me! I adored those books!
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