Murder in Matera - by Helene Stapinski (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A murder mystery, a model of investigative reporting, a celebration of the fierce bonds that hold families together through tragedies...Murder in Matera is a gem." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Tantalizing" -- NPR

"A thrilling detective story... Stapinski pursues the study of her family's criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results." -- Library Journal

A writer goes deep into the heart of Italy to unravel a century-old family mystery in this spellbinding memoir that blends the suspenseful twists of Making a Murderer and the emotional insight of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels.

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.

Yes, the family tales she'd heard were true: There had been a murder in Helene's family, a killing that roiled 1870s Italy. But the identities of the killer and victim weren't who she thought they were. In revisiting events that happened more than a century before, Helene came to another stunning realization--she wasn't who she thought she was, either.

Weaving Helene's own story of discovery with the tragic tale of Vita's life, Murder in Matera is a literary whodunit and a moving tale of self-discovery that brings into focus a long ago tragedy in a little-known region remarkable for its stunning sunny beauty and dark buried secrets.

From the Back Cover

From the age of four, Helene Stapinski heard lurid yet inspiring tales about her great-great-grandmother Vita, a loose woman back in Southern Italy who fled to America in 1892 with her three children after committing murder. Gripped by her family's story, Helene embarked on a decade-long fact-finding mission, making numerous trips to Basilicata, the rural "instep" of Italy's boot--once known for its superstitions, criminals, and desperate poverty. It's an undiscovered land filled with badlands-like hills, ancient caves, and fertile valleys with silver-tinged olive trees, whose isolation is matched only by its forlorn, incredible beauty. In a stunning turn of events, Helene comes to learn what really happened, sparking an upheaval of her own identity and sense of history. Deeply researched and reported, Murder in Matera is a remarkable true story about one family's hidden secrets. It is also a powerful and timeless story of immigration and motherhood--a profound testament to how far one woman would go in search of a better life in America, not only for herself, but for her children and the preservation of her family.

Review Quotes

"This book is many things: a gripping murder story, an ancestral journey, a tender yet funny reflection on motherhood and love of country, family, and food. But mostly it's just a total page turner. Helene Stapinski is incapable of delivering a dull moment. Bravissima to her and to this fine work!" - Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects Of Discussion

"This book is many things: a gripping murder story, an ancestral journey, a tender yet funny reflection on motherhood and love of country, family, and food. But mostly it's just a total page turner. Helene Stapinski is incapable of delivering a dull moment." - Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects Of Discussion

"Entertaining...part memoir, part murder mystery...Stapinski retells her decadelong search for the truth about the early life of her great-great grandmother Vita." - Publishers Weekly

"Murder in Matera is a remarkable family saga that captures the beauty and grit of southern Italy. The powerful and complicated matriarch at the center of Stapinski's tale will stay with you long after you finish the book." - Gay Talese, author of Unto the Sons and The Voyeur's Motel

"An enticing page-turner . . . a rollicking, magical tale." - Kirkus Reviews

"Stapinski first grippingly wrote about her family of crime in Five-Finger Discount, and here her search for the truth about a family matriarch--who may or may not have been a murderer--takes her from Jersey City to the Paleolithic town of Matera in southern Italy. Meticulously researched and evocative, Murder in Matera is a powerful story of identity and destiny--and it's honestly, beautifully told." - Mark Rotella, author of Amore: The Story of Italian American Song and Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria

"A thrilling detective story. . . . Stapinski pursues the study of her family's criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results." - Library Journal

"Lively...engrossing. In addition to solving the murder, Stapinski produces a vivid picture of the region's hardships, past and present." - New Yorker

"Meticulously researched and evocative, Murder in Matera is a powerful story of identity and destiny--and it's honestly, beautifully told." - Mark Rotella, author of Amore: The Story of Italian American Song and Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria

"Stapinski's research reveals a tragic, twisty history" - Booklist

"Filled with short, gritty sentences and portentous one-line paragraphs...if the style of Murder in Matera is streetwise Hemmingway, the theme is Falkner in a nutshell: "You could run, but the past would catch you soon enough and kick you in the ass when you weren't looking" Stapinski captures perfectly the "simultaneous beauty and sadness" of Matera... its brutalizing poverty and superstition... Food leads to family, family leads to motherhood...In a virtuoso passage, she connects stolen pears to Genesis, Wallace Stevens, Homer, Lizzie Borden, and the Harry & David Catalog." - New York Times Book Review

"The style is streetwise Hemingway, the theme is Faulkner in a nutshell." - New York Times Book Review

"A murder mystery, a model of investigative reporting, a celebration of the fierce bonds that hold families together through tragedies...Stapinski artfully teases out the suspense and the often shocking revelations that she shares here, fearlessly, about her family's cherished and most troubling myths...Murder in Matera is a gem." - San Francisco Chronicle

"Fascinating and informative . . . Stapinski's description of the near-feudal life in southern Italy in the 19th century is compelling." - Newsday