About this item
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.
About the Author
Helene Stapinski grew up in Jersey City, NJ, captured in her best selling memoir, Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History, which was made into a documentary. Baby Plays Around: A Love Affair with Music traces her time playing drums in a rock band on the Lower East Side. Her most recent book, Murder in Matera, takes her to Southern Italy, where she uncovers a 145-year-old family murder. Stapinski got her start at her hometown newspaper, worked as a radio DJ and news director in Alaska, has taught at Fordham University and NYU, her alma mater, has lectured at Columbia University, where she received her MFA, and has appeared on the Moth main stage, on NPR and the Today Show. She writes regularly for The New York Times and has been published in New York magazine, Salon.com, Travel & Leisure, Real Simple and dozens of other magazines, newspapers and web sites. Her work has been included in several anthologies, including Drinking Diaries: Women Tell Their Stories Straight Up. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Wendell Jamieson, their two teenage children and their dog, Blue.