Tina, Mafia Soldier

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 clan, 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.