The Sisters Mallone
Una Storia de Famiglia
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The Mallone sisters look Irish, but don’t let their blue eyes fool you.
“It’s all in how you say it,” their grandma Anona proudly says. “Ma-llone is Irish. Mal-lon-e is Italian.”
Growing up Italian in the 1920s, in Hell’s Kitchen, an Irish enclave, requires toughness, thrift, and a calculating mind―even for the three beautiful Mallone sisters. And when their baby sister Gracie is swept off her feet by no-good Frankie Merelli, Helen and Mary will do anything to make sure Grace gets the life she deserves, even if that means going after her husband…
The Sisters Mallone is a black comedy about the power of sisterhood and the importance of family―and family connections. Through irrepressible characters, and infectious and suspenseful writing, The Sisters Mallone reveals the American immigrant’s dream―with a twist.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Veteran reporter and author Ermelino (The Black Madonna; Joey Dee Gets Wise) loves to spin tales of fiery, tough-talking women, and her newest novel is no exception: its three sibling protagonists, Helen, Mary and Gracie, can toss off a hard-boiled quip with the best of them. But their grandmother Anona, who raises the Italian-American trio in the heart of New York's heavily Irish Hell's Kitchen in the 1920s and '30s, outstrips all of them. The archetypal crusty, irreverent old woman with a heart of gold, Anona has some choice words for everyone, and they're seldom pleasant. The male sex often catches the brunt of the vituperation she ladles out; as far as Anona is concerned, men are like horses: "Get yourself a good one and hope he don't die too young." Male bashing actually appears to be the raison d' tre for this novel, in which every character with an Adam's apple is either conniving, ineffectual or both. Its plot hinges upon the philandering ways of Gracie's handsome but good-for-nothing husband, Frankie Merelli, who never met a chorus girl he didn't like. Gracie lets callow Frankie run roughshod over their domestic life, but tough Mary and even tougher Helen aren't about to let an irresponsible cad get the better of their baby sister. Mary and Helen's solution to the Frankie problem is surprisingly cold-blooded, even though it's heavily foreshadowed from page one, but this is balanced nicely by Ermelino's breezy narrative style and boisterous dialogue.
