Customer Reviews

Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As an Italian-American from the Detroit area, I read with interest, Unto the Daughters. Karen Tintori has managed to somehow take a dark, hidden piece of her family's history and breathe life into players that have since died. Tintori pulls no punches with the brutality in which women in general were treated in Sicily and early first generation American families. The secretive nature of the Sicilian culture resonates within Unto the Daughters. Hearing it had been compared to Godfather II, I had a difficult time visualizing how that could be, but once I started reading, the comparison is on point, especially the way Tintoi weaves her story between modern day Detroit and the Sicilian town of Corleone. Her great aunt, the heroin, becomes a real, living person, even though only one photo, a shred of the proof (along with a scratched-out passport) that she existed, is all that survived. Tintori's background as a journalist is present throughout, as she effortlessly supplies her descriptive storytelling with facts of Sicilian and early first-generation culture and geography throughout. A powerful, brave work whose pain, setting and tone is all too palpably real.

I found this book to be one I could not put down. It was heartbreaking,and an excellent read. I highly recommend it. Well written,it gives real insight to turn of the century life in Sicily, and the early 1900 immigrant experience in America.

Great read. I recommend it to anyone interested in the personal lives of
the immigrants that came to this country early in the previous century.
You don't have to be Italian to love this book.

I loved this book! It kept my always wanting to read more; I couldn't put it down. My family is from Sicily and I felt like I was reading about them in this book. It's very well written and you learn a lot about Italian-American culture without even realizing it.

I'd heard about this book from a genealogy list I belong to. I finally had the opportunity to read it and found it just fascinating. Learning more and more about the Italian / Sicilian culture, I realize the cultural intensity of honor within the family. I'd never really heard about "honor killings" much, but it seems the Italians aren't the only ethnicity to have been affected by this (and in some cases, other cultures still do).

I understand the intensity the author went through in trying to ask questions of the older generation and being shut off. Many people don't want to relive something so tragic, but these stories are a part of our lives and part of the history of our family.

It's an amazing story and one that will truly keep you anticipating the next sentence, next page and next chapter. I commend the author for never giving up and for giving a voice to the aunt she lost so many years ago!

Unto the Daughters was a great read. There was a great sense of understanding this family and how things happened. I was impressed with the great research into the lives of everyone! A Great Book Club book with tons of discussion.

I found this book to be fantastic. Not only was it extremely well written, but, it is so incredible to get such insight into a family history. After reading this book, I wanted to dig deep into my family history and see what kind of "secrets" I could find.

Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American FamilyHi Everyone: For all the Italians and other ethnic backgrounds. Unto the Daughters Is a true story written by Karen Tintori. I enjoyed it very much and couldn't put it down until I was done. It is written with honesty, history, intrigue and traditions of Italians coming to America. A piece of history that is a must to know. Now, I know where all my family traditions come from. It was sad at times and the struggles were horendous. It makes you think never loose site of where you came from. It really makes a difference and forms who you are. Hold on to it from generation to generation. Never let it fade away and let something else replace it. After all the struggles they had and the devotion to ones family. You have to respect the hard work,sacrifices and the tragedy's that where made. Just to have a better life for their children here in America. It would make an excellant movie. Well, done Congratulations Karen Lots of Love: Cathy Alexander(NH)

Karen Tintori begins this book with her great grandparents and great aunts and uncles in Sicily around 1900. Eventually they all move to Detroit, Michigan, which is why I read this book. I live in a Detroit suburb.

I heard this book is about the Sicilian-American "honor killing" of Tintori's great aunt long after they came to Detroit. I wondered how this could have happened here, and that is why, I found, she begins her book with this family in Sicily. I needed to understand the Sicilian attitude toward women then. That had everything to do with why it happened.

And that's what most of the book describes: the plight of Sicilian and Sicilian-American women. While I realize this is to paint a background that leads to the murder, I would have liked less background and more discussion of this "honor killing."

The last quarter of the book describes the hesitancy of the people in Tintori's family to discuss the murder. Everyone gave different versions of the story if they would say anything at all. That surprised me, so I had questions.

Luckily, Tintori is very accessible. I emailed her a list of questions, and she answered every one at length. I learned that, because her relatives resisted talking about the "honor killing," it was impossible to describe it. But I understand now how and why they got away with it.

This is a terrific book! It was truly a page turner. While most people do not house this type of skeleton in their family closet, we all have family secrets. It is only through dogged determination that they are revealed to us. Unto the Daughters is a true eye-opener into the life and times of Italian immigrants, their customs, their beliefs, and sadly in some cases, their reactions to circumstances out of their control. What a blessing that Ms. Tintori took the time to research this erased but not forgotten woman, to put it on paper to share with us all.