-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Maria Rosa Cutrufelli
A classic of Italian feminist mafia literature about a gender-bending mafiosa and the writer who becomes obsessed with telling her story
Sicily, 1980s: When she was just eight years old, Tina watched as her father, a member of Cosa Nostra, was murdered in cold blood. Now a teenager, she terrorizes her hometown of Gela, having made it her mission to join the mafia, an organization traditionally forbidden to women as made members. Nicknamed 'a masculidda, or "the tomboy," Tina has taken charge of her own gang, and is notorious for her cruelty and reckless disregard for societal expectations.
When a news article is published about Tina's latest crimes, a teacher living in Rome feels compelled to write a novel about her—even though it means returning to her native Sicily to gather material. She and Tina circle around each other in a dangerous dance of obsession and violence until their first, and last, explosive meeting.
This groundbreaking exploration of gender identity and clear-eyed presentation of an unseen side of the mafia is a landmark literary achievement by one of Italy's feminist icons.
"Outstanding Italian noir ... The fully developed characters complement the richly portrayed Sicilian setting, and a lengthy translator's note provides useful background on the novel's time and place. Readers interested in strong female characters won't want to miss this tour de force." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Well worth the read, especially for those who enjoy stories of women smashing barriers." - First Clue (starred review)
"Cutrufelli flips the norms when it comes to stories about the Cosa Nostra." - Crime Fiction Lover
"[A] fast-moving, provocative novel. The story is at once a compelling mob fiction and a clear-eyed assault on gender conventions in a society awash in corruption and hypocrisy." - CrimeReads
"A mosaic of true stories enclosed in a tale of pure invention ... The novelization of Sicily." - L'Espresso
"I read Tina, Mafia Soldier in one breath, discovering a depth of characters and environments that had been presented to me in the newspapers over the years ... This novel gave me a different view, inviting me to enter a hostile and closed world with a generosity that reverberates through the protagonists of this story and allows us to converse with them. It opens up a way for us to listen to a reality that is easily marginalized." - Renate Siebert, author of Secrets of Life and Death: Women in the Mafia
"Maria Rosa Cutrufelli clearly knows how to paint an unprecedented landscape: one of a marginalized society and all its mysteries." - Corriere di Gela
"It is the story of the richness of genre, of the enchantment of a gesture, in its poetry and its tragedy." - Lapis
This information about Tina, Mafia Soldier was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Maria Rosa Cutrufelli was born in Messina Sicily and raised shuttling back and forth between Sicily and Bologna; she now resides in Rome. A major figure in Italian feminist movements, she boasts a long, prolific career as a journalist, cultural critic, and novelist. After earning her degree in Literature from the University of Bologna, she founded and directed the journal Tuttestorie. She also authored several works of travel literature, largely devoted to Africa, where she lived for three years. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.
Robin Pickering-Iazzi is Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Among her published works in translation are the novel Suspicion by Laura Grimaldi, Unspeakable Women: Selected Short Stories Written by Italian Women during Fascism, and the widely acclaimed Mafia and Outlaw Stories from Italian Life and Literature.
If you liked Tina, Mafia Soldier, try these:
by Suzanne Cope
Published 2025
The gripping, true, and untold history of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during World War II, told through the stories of four spectacularly courageous women fighters.
by Jo Piazza
Published 2025
From bestselling author and award-winning journalist Jo Piazza, comes a transporting novel rooted in the author's own family history about a long-awaited trip to Sicily, a disputed inheritance, and a family secret that some will kill to protect ...
by Caro De Robertis
Published 2020
From the highly acclaimed, award-winning author of The Gods of Tango, a revolutionary new novel about five wildly different women who, in the midst of the Uruguayan dictatorship, find one another as lovers, friends, and ultimately, family.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
