Book description
Marisa Merico, the daughter of one of Italy's most notorious Mafia
Godfathers, was dazzled by her father, Emilio DiGiovine. To her he was
all powerful, sophisticated and loving; to the rest of the world he was
staggeringly ruthless. Marisa knew her father would do anything for her,
but she hadn't expected just how much he would ask in return.
Born to an English mother, Marisa turned her back on her quiet life in
Blackpool to join her charming father, Emilio DiGiovine, who had spent
years trying to tempt her back to Italy. Arriving in Milan, Marisa had
no idea she was returning to the heart of one of the most notorious
drugs, arms and money laundering empires in the world.
At first her father shielded her from the family operations and Marisa
was overwhelmed by the attention and gifts he lavished on her. But soon
the temptation of a new recruit was too great and Marisa was drawn ever
deeper into the family's sinister and brutal regime, witnessing things
she was too scared to believe.
The day she eloped with her father's chief henchman was the day her
father decided she was ready to be initiated into the true nature of the
family business. Suddenly Marisa saw there was no limit to what he would
expect her to do for him. She knew it was wrong, she knew she had to get
out, but she had no idea how she could break the sacred Coda Nostra -
and survive.
Marisa's extraordinarily story is the most powerful portrayal of a
Mafia family to emerge in recent years. It's the perfect balance of
shocking violence, dangerous betrayals and enduring love. 'A riveting,
stomach-churning story.'
The Sun Marisa Merico was born to an English mother who had run away
to Italy and married Emilio DiGiovanni. When her mother got too deep in
the family's operations she escaped back home to Blackpool, telling her
daughter her father was a good-for-nothing petty thief. Marisa's father,
the Mafia Godfather of one of Italy most feared families, was determined
to get Marisa back. Marisa returned to Italy, fell in love with her
father's chief henchman and eloped with him to get married. Soon she was
neck-deep in the family's terrifying operations with no way to escape.
Then, suddenly, an auntie turned supergrass and Marisa, her father and
90 other members of the DiGiovine family were imprisoned in a 6-month
trial that gripped Italy. Marisa is now out of prison and lives in
Blackpool with her daughter.
