Murder In Matera

A True Story of Passion, Family, and Forgiveness in Southern Italy

Helene Stapinski (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

320 Seiten

2017
Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins US (Verlag)
978-0-06-243845-4 (ISBN)

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"Tantalizing" - NPR "A thrilling detective story...Stapinski pursues the study of her family's criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results." - Library Journal A writer goes deep into the heart of Italy to unravel a century-old family mystery in this spellbinding memoir that blends the suspenseful twists of Making a Murderer and the emotional insight of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. Since childhood, Helene Stapinski heard lurid tales about her great-great-grandmother, Vita. In Southern Italy, she was a loose woman who had murdered someone. Immigrating to America with three children, she lost one along the way. Helene's youthful obsession with Vita deepened as she grew up, eventually propelling the journalist to Italy, where, with her own children in tow, she pursued the story, determined to set the record straight. Finding answers would take Helene ten years and numerous trips to Basilicata, the rural "instep" of Italy's boot-a mountainous land rife with criminals, superstitions, old-world customs, and desperate poverty.
Though false leads sent her down blind alleys, Helene's dogged search, aided by a few lucky-even miraculous-breaks and a group of colorful local characters, led her to the truth. Yes, the family tales she'd heard were true: There had been a murder in Helene's family, a killing that roiled 1870s Italy. But the identities of the killer and victim weren't who she thought they were. In revisiting events that happened more than a century before, Helene came to another stunning realization-she wasn't who she thought she was, either. Weaving Helene's own story of discovery with the tragic tale of Vita's life, Murder in Matera is a literary whodunit and a moving tale of self-discovery that brings into focus a long ago tragedy in a little-known region remarkable for its stunning sunny beauty and dark buried secrets.

Helene Stapinski is the author of Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History, which recounts her family's criminal history, and Baby Plays Around: A Love Affair, with Music, which chronicles her years playing drums in a rock band in Manhattan. She has written extensively for the New York Times as well as for New York magazine, Salon, Travel & Leisure, and dozens of other publications and essay collections. On the documentary based on Five-Finger Discount, she has worked as a producer and writer. Stapinski has been a radio newscaster in Alaska; has appeared on National Public Radio; was a featured performer with The Moth; has lectured at her alma mater, Columbia University; and has taught at Fordham University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Erscheinungsdatum	27.05.2017
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	469 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Regional- / Landesgeschichte
	Reiseführer ► Europa ► Italien
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
ISBN-10	0-06-243845-X / 006243845X
ISBN-13	978-0-06-243845-4 / 9780062438454
Zustand	Neuware