The Family was a very mixed read for me. I was drawn to it by the synopsis and the gorgeous cover. I love historical, family dramas and there was much to enjoy in this story of the friendship between two daughters of Mafia bosses. It’s set in New York over a 20 year period between 1928 and 1948 and I loved how the author brought a changing New York to life. I loved the relationship between Sofia and Antonia and how their loyalties are tested over the years. This was however a very slow paced novel and at points I felt that the writing was awkward and didn’t flow well. An interesting read and I’d definitely read more from the author in the future.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This book is very slow paced. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I felt that the book needed more dialogue. Not a great fan of this

Mafia but still family.
Sofia and Antonia are best friends from childhood, holding hands as babies lying together, inseparable. They are innocent of their families connections, and stick together as other children avoid them. Parents Carlo and Lind and their friends Joey and Ross would do anything to keep their families safe. Carlo decides he does not want to be in the family any longer with devastating results, his friend Joey never gets over his loss.
The girls grow up and become more independent, Antonia want to go to university and Sofia wants to join the Mafia elite. Both girls have boyfriends, Paolo and Saul, Saul is Jewish so does not always fit in well with the family.
Both girls have babies, Sofia does not take to motherhood after supporting Antonia through a difficult birth and post natal depression, this is a very human and interesting part of the book.
A story of loyalty, cruelty and family

A book for those like epics and the Sopranos. Absolutely loved this as it’s written with women in the mafia as the main voice. Got to say this woman has done her research somehow to get what seems like a really accurate portrayal of what it’s like to be in ‘the family’. Fascinating.

This was oddly gripping but in a different sense which is hard to describe. There’s just enough kept back that makes you want to keep reading. It is just the story of two girls who are friends from the earliest days of childhood and yet it is captivating and you want to find out how it all ends - because they are entangled within the mafia family of New York in first half of the 1900’s.
The writing style is different to other books I’ve read, but I soon got into the flow and the style actually felt like it tied in with the subject matter quite well and made it feel real and tense. This would have been 4 stars but it dropped half at the end as I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending and I felt loose ends could have been tied up better - so 3.5 overall and certainly a good debut for the author and I will look out for more to come in future - hopefully a sequel might tie up some of those loose ends!

I fell in love with the cover. Then I fell in love with the characters. The Family. The Mafia. The seedy side of New York.

I loved living through these women's stories. The movies are full of organised crime stories all about men. This book shows the collateral damage that involvement in the Mafia brings. Men have to put their Family first and their family second, which is bound to lead to dysfunction. Sofia and Antonio suffer so much loss before they have to take charge and save themselves from toxic male power.

A strong friendship grows between two teens,Antonia and Sophia as their families, in need of work are drawn into the criminal underclass of a mob family. The reader is transported into a brutal violent corner of New York City with a rippling undercurrent of a loving family life with Sunday lunch gatherings , love and marriage. The disappearance of Antonia’s father Carlo affects her and her mother greatly and influences her decisions later in life. Not the kind of book I’d normally read but a challenging debut novel and I’m interested to read more by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers for an ARC of this book

A dazzling read! The four main characters are all strong and their soul searching and driving passions are described in detail. The mothers of the girls, Lina and Rosa, are both broken in different ways. Both the husbands look for a way out but find themselves trapped by the chains of the family. This is a compelling and well-told story which is gripping from beginning to end.

This book brought me deeper understanding of both the why and how people get caught in gangs. Is The Family, in its guise as a business operation while actually being a vehicle of extortion and corruption, really just like a gang? I think it is. Small gangs, large gangs, American, Sicilian, British, Chinese, whatever the origin, are systems where the boss gets to control and dominate while the lesser gang members do much of the dirty work and in exchange perhaps feel safe and protected.

Until they want to leave the gang. Until the price they pay is too much. Until they feel a desire to live life free of expectations and manipulation, rules and codes.

Now obviously there are gangs and Gangs, and families and Families. But some similar rules apply. Humans are tribal and we also need each other in order to survive. If you drew a short straw, like Saul in this book, then you are young and vulnerable, desperate and lonely, an easy catch for someone who wants to draw you into a network of crime. It's The Family, you will be fed and given money, a home and even perhaps marry the bosses daughter. But it's also a web from which you cannot escape with your life.

The book circles around the relationships between two families - both part of The Family. The daughters Sofia and Antonia are different in many ways but their friendship is a bond that they protect and nourish even when circumstances seem to pull them apart. That is the female side of The Family, along with the wives and mothers who suffer in silence, and cook and take care of everyone. The male side also takes care of everyone but in a darker and more dangerous way. They deal with the money, the bribes, the business, the threats, the violence and the danger. And if you try to leave, they deal with you.

What I loved about this book was that although it was about a very dark industry with violent roots, it never explained things or people in terms of black and white. Sofia both cares and doesn't care. Joey loves and destroys. Antonia's mother both falls apart and holds herself together.

At the beginning the farmers were just trying to protect their orange groves. And then they came together to protect them as a group. And then, and then, before you know it, there is a line that has been crossed and you cannot return.

I found the book interesting and engaging. The characters were believable and although I didn't feel deeply drawn to any one of them, I did care what happened.

What I will remember most if the intricate web that was woven around all the family members and how escape seemed and often was, impossible. Tribes both protect and destroy. How can humans ever begin to create better systems is an important question for us all.

I enjoyed this novel about two girls who become women and the impact of 'The Family' on their lives.

I'd seen the Neapolitan Novels comparison and I feel like it's really off base for a few reasons - firstly, you can't compare four books to one. Second, the writing style and I think preoccupation of the two works are completely different. Lastly, we just accept the huge amount of male-dominated mob stories we have and don't automatically discount everything that isn't The Godfather. I'd welcome more stories of the women's lives and their intersection with organised crime.

I do wonder however, if we're going to get a sequel to this one. Krupitsky leaves this at a point where it could be coming back for more ...dare I say, 'Just when I thought we were out... '

The story spans a long time and deals with the fallout over many years of the instigating event. This is both a strength as we see the characters grow up and a weakness as this storytelling style lends itself to a lot of narrative summary and few dramatic scenes. I did like the ruminations on family and 'Family', on belonging and being an outsider, on the difficulty of ever being completely welcomed in, but also on the impossibility of escape once you're in.

I found the opening a strong and stark introduction and found the ending satisfying. I would likely pick up another book in the series, or whatever else Krupitsky writes next.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in to The Family by Naomi Krupitsky, but it proved to be an unexpected gem of a novel and an impressive debut. It’s a story set from the 1920s to the 1940s about mob families but don’t expect some fast-paced thriller – rather this is a slow-burning, character driven novel, a story of women, friendship and family, and what people will do for those they love. Told in the present tense, it’s beautifully written, with the changing face of New York City in that era brought vividly to life. There’s a powerful sense of foreboding throughout and an almost haunting tone as the reader is painfully aware that in families such as these violence is never far away – and indeed in the acknowledgement the author mentions the importance of getting and love and violence to coexist on the same page, something she does remarkably well.

At its heart is the story of the lifelong friendship of Sofia and Antonia, both members of Mafia families. Very different characters, their lives begin to diverge as teenagers but ultimately marriage and motherhood bring them back together as they navigate their way through lives fraught with the complications and contradictions that come with being part of “The Family”. There is a certain rawness to the book as we get to know the complex characters, and see their flaws when loyalties are tested as they struggle to find their own way whilst still honouring their family ties. It is a remarkable and compelling book – I can understand why some people might find it a bit slow, but if you appreciate stunning prose and a well-executed character driven novel, I would thoroughly recommend it.

So good to see a book about "The Family" coming from a girl / woman's perspective. Sofia and Antonia are best friends growing up in New York, they are aware that their Fathers are part of "The Family" and that this means something but it is only as they grow up do they realise the full consequences of this. Their friendship drifts at times and their lives become different but in the end they are there for each other.

A great story.

I was given a copy of The Family by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiaised review.

This was such a good read, easily one of the best books I have read this year so far. The writing was good, the charcaters are well developed, relatable and have a rawness that makes them jump off of the page and the story is interesting and engaging. My one criticism is that it was a slow burner to begin with but once it got going it left me craving more. I really enjoyed it.

What an absolutely brilliant book. It's one of those stories that you can't stop reading, and yet don't want to finish as it's just so good.

Telling the story of two best friends Sophia and Antonia in the years ranging from 1928-1948, it is the story of two daughters from families that belong to The Family. And the insidious nature of being entrenched in the organisation that runs on fear and violence. As Antonia is only too aware when her father tries leave.

But it's more than a story of organised crime. It's a stunning observation of motherhood, of depression, of loss and displacement. It examines what it was to be a women at this time, and to want more than marriage and motherhood.

We watch these two brilliantly written women grow up and try to navigate their way through life. At times close, at times distant. But the vow they made to one another as children is never forgotten, and as events become ever more desperate, these two amazing women prove they are loyal to the end.

Definitely one of my favourite reads, and one I will return to more than once I am sure.

This coming-of-age book tells the story of Sophia and Antonia who are girls born into The Family aka the Mafia, the Cosa Nostra, call it what you will. They are not sisters but they might as well be. Their lives are very different but are entwined. They both want different things but everything that they want has The Family at it's heart.
Set around the time of WW2 the author creates a feel for what life inside the Mafia was like, especially for two girls with hopes and dreams.
I enjoyed this book though I found the start a bit slow, hence the 4 stars.
many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A thoroughly enjoyable book.
The book pulls us into the lives of Sophia and Antonia with a female perspective of a mafia run business. We have sleepovers with the girls, silent communications between bedrooms, whispered secrets, hopes and dreams in high school and eventually the struggles of motherhood. Their relationship is tested, torn and once again solidified.

There are wonderful descriptions of Italian food. The smells and richness of the food comfort you all while male family members in other rooms increase your anxiety and fears.

The book ends like a thriller. Who lives? Who dies? Who is stronger in the end? Family always sticks together. Like a good wine with incredible pasta this is one dish where you finish the entire bowl even if you're full.

It took a while to get into this but when I did, I was quite absorbed into the lives if the two protagonists. I liked how it gave a different spin on the gangster stories we’re used to seeing, the loyalties and the impact on the women and children from all the actions of the men.

This was disappointing. I expected a story along the lines of My Beautiful Friend by Elena Ferranti. I just couldn’t get into it.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I found this book difficult to read and keep my attention. The writing was confusing about so many different characters. It was Mafia based in Brooklyn and unfortunately not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for an A.R.C.