By Karen Tintori
Unto the Daughters is the story of a secret guarded so fiercely for nine decades that members of Tintori’s family died without ever learning of it. Unto the Daughters began with an obliterated entry on a passport - discovered during a genealogical quest - and a reluctant revelation of an ancestor who was so systematically eradicated from her family tree that many relatives born since her murder still have no inkling that she ever existed.
Unto the Daughters is Karen Tintori's sixth publication and her second solo book.
Story
Karen Tintori thought she knew her family tree.
Her grandmother Josie had emigrated from Sicily with her parents at the turn of the century. They settled in Detroit, and with Josie’s nine siblings, worked to create a home for themselves away from the poverty and servitude of the old country. Their descendants were proud Italian-Americans. But Josie had a sister nobody spoke of. Her name was Frances, and at age sixteen she fell in love with a young barber. Her father wanted her to marry an older don in the neighborhood mafia---a marriage that would give his sons a leg up in the mob.
But Frances eloped with her barber, and when she returned home a married woman, her fate was sealed. Even eighty years and two generations later, Frances was not spoken of, and her memory was suppressed.
Unto the Daughters is a historical mystery and family story that unwraps the many layers of family, honor, memory, and fear to find an honor killing in turn-of-the-century Detroit. Tracing the history and insular world of Italian immigrants back to the old country, Karen Tintori shows what they came from, what they hoped for, and how the hopes and dreams of America fell far short for her great-aunt Frances.
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Reviews
"Switching back and forth between rural Sicily and early 20th century Detroit, Unto the Daughters reads like a nonfiction version of the film Godfather II--if it had been told from the point of view of a female Corleone. In exploring her own family's secret history, Karen Tintori gives voice not just to her victimized aunt but to all Italian-American daughters and wives silenced by the power of omerta. Half gripping true-crime story, half moving family memoir, Unto the Daughters is both fascinating and frightening, packed with telling details and obscure folklore that help bring the suffocating world of a Mafia family to life."
---Eleni Gage, author of North of Ithaka: A Granddaughter Returns to Greece and Discovers Her Roots
"Nearly every family has a skeleton in its closet, an ancestor who 'sins' against custom and tradition and pays a double price -- ostracism or worse at the time, and obliteration from the memory of succeeding generations. Few of these transgressors paid a higher price than Frances Costa, who was brutally murdered by her own brothers in a 1919 Sicilian honor killing in Detroit. And fewer yet have had a more tenacious successor than Frances's great-niece, Karen Tintori, who refused to allow the truth to remain forgotten. This is a book for anyone who shares the conviction that all history, in the end, is family history."
---Frank Viviano, author of Blood Washes Blood and Dispatches from the Pacific Century
“Tintori's poignant memoir of the recent discovery of her great-aunt's murder deeply underscores her Sicilian culture's troubling subjugation of its women. Tintori (Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster) recounts how in 1993 her aunt and mother reluctantly told her of an obliterated name from her great-grandfather's passport to America. Gradually Tintori discovers the fate of the missing youngest daughter, Francesca, by working backward in time to when the Costa family first made its way to Detroit from Corleone, Sicily, in 1914. The family settled into comfort in Little Sicily: the girls enjoyed scant education and were married off early, while the boys worked at the Ford factory and ran with rum-runner gangs. Although her sister Josie made a successful love match, Francesca pined for the barber's son, but was forcibly engaged at 16 to a scion of the Mafiosi in order to better her family's fortunes. Francesca eloped, to the family's dishonor, and was probably murdered (shackled, dismembered and thrown in the waters of Belle Isle) by her brothers when she dared to return. Because of her family's wall of silence, Tintori finds no sense of catharsis here, only a harrowing tale of sorrow and shame. ”
---Publishers Weekly
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase Unto the Daughters from online retailers.
Excerpt - Read the first few pages of Unto the Daughters.
Unto the Daughters Media Kit - Includes press release.
Details
Hardcover Editions
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-3123-3463-X
- ISBN-13: 978-0-3123-3463-5
Contact Information
Media/Publicity Contact
Publicity
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
646-307-5555 phone
By Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
David Shepherd knows the names of the thirty-six Righteous Souls, upon whose existence -- the Talmud says -- God keeps the world in existence. Thirty-three of them have just been murdered. Now David must race to find and save the remaining three – one of them his young step-daughter -- to save the world.
The Book of Names is Karen Tintori's fifth publication and her fourth collaboration with co-author Jill Gregory.
Story
Within each generation, there are thirty-six righteous souls. Their lives hold the key to the fate of the world. Now someone wants them dead.
When a childhood tragedy comes back to haunt Professor David Shepherd, he finds himself in possession of knowledge that holds the world in a delicate balance. He uncovers the Book of Names---an ancient text originating with the biblical Adam, and thought lost to history forever. By Kabbalistic tradition, the book contains the names of each generation’s thirty-six righteous souls---the Hidden Ones---by whose merits alone the world continues to exist. Legend holds that if all thirty-six Hidden Ones were eliminated, the world would meet its end.
When the Hidden Ones start dying of unnatural causes, the world grows increasingly unstable: war in Afghanistan, massive flooding in New York, brutal terrorist attacks in Melbourne, a tanker explosion in Iran. David finds himself battling against the Gnoseos, a secret religious sect whose goal is to destroy the world by eliminating all of the righteous souls. David’s involvement quickly turns personal when his stepdaughter’s name is discovered to be one of the endangered. With the help of a brilliant and beautiful Israeli ancient texts expert, David races to decipher the traditions of the Kabbalah to save the righteous souls, his stepdaughter, and perhaps the world.
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Reviews
“Intricately plotted historical suspense . . . an intriguing synthesis of Jewish mysticism and modern murder mystery. A swift, intelligent thriller.”
---Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Relentless and riveting, The Book of Names speeds you across continents and centuries in the ultimate seductive read. From fascinating characters to real-life legends, this debut ranks as unforgettable.”
---Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Spymaster
“The Book of Names grabs you on page one and doesn’t let you go. Weaving together the Kabbala, the tarot, and the forces of good and evil, this chilling thriller has a self-assured voice and all the right elements to make for a nonstop, nail-biting read.”
---M. J. Rose, author of the international bestseller The Venus Fix
“Convincing characters and a rapidly moving plot combine to create an enjoyable religious thriller….”
---Library Journal
"Gregory and Tintori('s) intriguing premise...helps separate this tale from garden-variety religious thrillers. And where others have tried and usually failed, the authors give succinct explanations of the principles of kabbalah and Gnosticism, both complex and often misunderstood. Compulsively readable."
---Booklist
"The Book of Names...(is) an intelligent suspense thriller...a tense murder mystery (that) self-assuredly fulfils the requirements of the religious thriller in terms of characterisation, plot and pace. With...the addition of many religious legends, this story has real breadth. The Book of Names gathers together all the elements that could make it a huge commercial success."
---The Economist
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase The Book of Namesfrom online retailers.
The Book of Names Media Kit - Includes press release, history FAQ and Kirkus review.
Das Buch der Namen - The official website for the German translation of The Book of Names.
Audio Book - Listen to a sample of the audio book from Brilliance Audio's site.
International Covers - Here are the covers from some of the international editions of The Book of Names.
Details
Hardcover Editions
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (January 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-3123-6632-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-3123-6632-2
Paperback Editions
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (February 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-312-35473-8
- ISBN-13: 978-0-312-35473-2
International Editions (More information on International Editions )
- Publisher: Rowholt (December 2006)
- Language: German
- ISBN-13: 978-3-4992-4481-0
Audio Editions
- Publisher: Brilliance Audio (January 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1-4233-3078-1 (Audio CD - Unabridged)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-4233-3078-3
- ISBN-10: 1-4233-3084-6 (Audio CD - Abridged)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-4233-3084-4
- ISBN-10: 1-4233-3077-3 (Audio Cassette - Unabridged)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-4233-3077-6
Contact Information
By Karen Tintori
One of the Chicago Tribune's Favorite Books of 2002, Trapped is the story of the worst coal mine fire in U.S. history, and still stands as that country's third worst coal mine disaster. It is a story of heroism and cowardice, faith and despair, tragedy and survival against incredible odds--a true story that still resonates today. The Cherry Mine Disaster was a catalyst for changes in mining and child labor laws, and the first application of Workers Compensation in the U.S.
Story
Inspired by a refrain of her girlhood -- "Your grandfather survived the Cherry Mine disaster" -- Karen Tintori began a search for her family's role in the harrowing tragedy of 1909. She uncovered the stories of victims, survivors, widows, orphans, townspeople, firefighters, reporters, and mine owners, and wove them together to pen Trapped, a riveting account of the tragic day that would inspire America's first worker's compensation laws and hasten much-needed child labor reform.
On a Saturday morning in November of 1909, four hundred and eighty men went down into the mines as they had countless times before. But a fire erupted in the mineshaft that day and soon burned out of control. By nightfall, more than half the men would either be dead or trapped as officials sealed the mine in an attempt to contain the blaze. Miraculously, twenty men would emerge one week later, but not before the Cherry Mine disaster went down in history as the worst ever coal mine fire in the U.S.--and not before all the treachery and heroism of mankind were revealed.
Reviews
"Tintori, the granddaughter of a mineworker in Cherry, Ill., has brought to life the worst coal mine fire in U.S. history... Particularly heartrending is the author's description of the 21 men who were trapped underground for eight harrowing days after the mine was sealed to smother the fire... Tintori's engaging prose keeps readers on the edge throughout her story."
--Publisher's Weekly
"The worst coalmine fire in US history will be indelibly fixed in the reader's mind thanks to newcomer Tintori's haunting story of the disaster... Investigations into the incident helped bring about worker's compensation and child labor laws. Pungent and sharp, a terrible tale of loss that at least led toward future protections."
--Kirkus
"Tintori's grandfather survived the fire, and her genealogical quest developed into an extensive investigation of the calamity. Although this is her first book, the author's writing skills are evident; she crafts a compelling account of beleaguered miners trapped in a living hell and their distraught families on the surface...Tintori has presented a very accessible and gripping account of a human tragedy that elicited both the best and worst from those involved. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal
"Tintori's text reads more like a novel than button-downed history."
--Illinois Heritage Magazine
"Tintori has rescued this near-forgotten catastrophe from obscurity, reifying one of the most significant lessons learned from, among other catastrophes, the terrorist attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001: Ordinary people can, in time of crisis, display the most extraordinary courage and resolve. ...[The] anecdotes--somehow, calling them anecdotes seems almost disrespectful--endow "Trapped" with a grave, austere, scrupulous beauty. Tintori never overstates her case. She doesn't have to; the notes left by the trapped miners, some of whom survived and some of whom didn't, are more eloquent than the output of a dozen lyric poets on their best days."
--The Chicago Tribune
"It is everything that such a book ought to be, and much more: A gripping narrative, powerful in its language and extraordinarily well-constructed. A portrait of elemental human strengths and frailities at their best and worst. A reminder of the terrible price paid by immigrants to establish themselves in America. Karen Tintori's account of the Cherry Mine Disaster is a classic of its kind. My compliments to Ms. Tintori, and to Washington Square Press on its publication of her impressive work."
--Frank Viviano, author of Blood Washes Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun
"A riveting generational story and a terrific reporting job -- altogether, a worthy memorial to those who have gone down the coal mines never to return; Ms Tintori's grandfather, who survived the Cherry Mine Disaster, must be smiling."
-- John N. Maclean, author of Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase Trapped from online retailers.
Off The Cuff Interview - An October 2003 interview with Dave Cronen of Louisville Public Radio station, WFPL.
Afternoon Magazine Interview - An October 2002 interview with Celeste Quinn on University of Illinois Public Radio station, WILL.
Eight Forty-Eight Interview - A February 2002 interview with Richard Steele on Chicago Public Radio, as re-broadcast in January 2006.
The Cherry Mine Disaster Website (Unofficial) - Ray Tutag Jr., who built the incredible model of the Cherry Mine housed in the Cherry Library, has compiled this site filled with information and images of the disaster.
Details
Hardcover Editions
- Publisher: Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) (September 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-7434-2194-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-2194-2
Softcover Editions
- Publisher: Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) (September 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-7434-2195-7
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-2195-9
Contact Information
By Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Museum curator Natalie Landau fights to learn who murdered her reporter sister in Iraq -- and battles powerful forces pursuing the mysterious gift her sister sent her before she died -- an evil eye necklace concealing a biblical treasure from the dawn of creation possessing the power to transform -- or destroy -- the world.
The internationally bestselling writing team of Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori return with a new mystical thriller in the vein of The Book of Names.
Story
It gleamed up at her like a small golden egg encrusted with jewels of lapis lazuli, carnelian, and jasper. The classic eye, one of the most ancient symbols of protection.
Natalie Landau, a museum curator with an expertise in Mesopotamian protective amulets and magical beliefs, has received a puzzling gift from her sister Dana--a necklace with a blue evil eye pendant on it. The Evil Eye is a symbol of protection common throughout the world, with a history connecting it to many religions.
When Natalie learns Dana was murdered only hours after sending the gift, she begins to think her evil eye amulet had something to do with her sister’s death. As she races to discover the origin of the pendant, Natalie is sucked into an international battle between powerful religious factions, each battling for the eye, which turns out to be far more valuable—and far more powerful--than she could ever imagine.
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Reviews
“The intrigue is high. The excitement is palpable. The story is priceless. Combining mysticism, history, and fanaticism, this is one thriller that's simply impossible to put down until you've reached the ending - breathless and so well satisfied. Tintori and Gregory are first rate story tellers!”
--M.J. Rose, international bestselling author of The Memorist
“Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori return with another extraordinary thriller after their outstanding The Book of Names. Their new novel, The Illumination, skillfully weaves history, ancient art, dark legend and religious fanaticism into a story of high-stakes terror and international intrigue. The excitement stays at a high pitch from the opening scene at the looted Iraqi National Museum to the final sensational twist. A page-turner. extraordinaire.”
--New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston, co-author of The Monster of Florence and The Wheel of Darkness
“Stirring and imaginative. A tense, intelligent, and surprising thrill. Drum tight in execution, fueled by imagination, the plot is as sharp as a broken shard of glass. If you like your tales loaded with intrigue, treachery, and a wealth of secrets you're going to love The Ilumination.”
-- New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry, author of The Charlemagne Pursuit and The Templar Legacy
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase The Illumination from online retailers.
International Covers - Here are the covers from some of the international editions of The Illumination.
Details
Hardcover Editions
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (January 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-3123-7597-2
- ISBN-13: 978-0-3123-7597-3
Audio Editions
- Publisher: Brilliance Audio (January 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1-4233-4351-4 (Audio CD - Unabridged)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-4233-4351-6
Contact Information
By Karen Tintori and Jill Gregory -- originally published under the pseudonym Jillian Karr
Four glamorous women. Four perfect brides. Four deadly secrets. When Perfect Bride magazine editor Monique D'Arcy decides to showcase three celebrity brides--including herself--plus one lucky Cinderella bride picked from the audience of the Oprah Winfrey Show, none of them can fathom the danger Monique's plan will pose to their upcoming marriages--or to their lives.
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase Something Borrowed, Something Blue from online retailers.
Something Borrowed, Something Blue - A CBS Movie-of-the-Week starring Connie Sellecca, Twiggy, Dina Merrill, Ken Howard and Brett Cullen, based on the book. Re-runs of the two hour TV-movie appear on cable television.
Also excerpted in COSMOPOLITAN Magazine, Something Borrowed, Something Blue was the staggeringly successful debut fiction collaboration between Karen and writing partner Jill Gregory. Something Borrowed, Something Blue debuted at #9 on the Detroit Free Press Bestseller List, and was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award.
Foreign rights sold in hardcover and softcover to the U.K., and in softcover to Korea, Russia and France. Also published in large print edition.
As research for their actress character Ana, Karen and Jill spent five days in wintry Toronto, Canada, working as extras in the movie Used People starring Shirley MacLaine, Marcello Mastroianni, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy and Marcia Gay Harden, and edited by Karen's brother, John Tintori. You can catch them in the wedding reception scene, wearing poufy '60s hair and white eye shadow rimmed with thick black eyeliner--if you don't blink.
Details
Hardcover Editions
- Publisher: Doubleday (1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0-3854-7135-1
Softcover Editions
- Publisher: Bantam Books (1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0-5532-9990-5
By Jillian Karr (pseudonym of Karen Tintori and Jill Gregory)
Miss America has vanished and photographer Cat Hansen refuses to sit and wait for someone to find her missing sister. Charging blindly into harms way, Cat locks horns and hearts with a dangerously desirable undercover government agent. In the meantime, Meg Hansen is embarking on a daring escape that leaves her stranded and vulnerable on a desert island with an intriguing and mesmerizing man with a secret.
Reviews
"Three strong women, bound by friendship, betrayed by love, struggling not just to survive, but to win!"
---Nora Roberts
"Meg Hansen is finishing up her reign as Miss America when she is kidnapped. In a daring escape she risks her life and winds up in the arms of handsome stranger, Jake Seldon, who offers her protection. But is he friend or foe? Can she trust him with her life and love? Her sister, Cat, is determined to find Meg at any cost. Even if it means dealing with the dangerous operative named Dagger and taking risks that place her life in jeopardy. Close friend and PR representative for the Miss America pageant, Jordan Davis, is beside herself with worry over Meg and concerned about a man who is trailing her and her young daughter. Jordan must rely on her ex-husband, police detective Mike Bannister for help. The three women must find the strength and courage to face adversity and confront the challenge to trust and love again. This is definitely a can't-put-it-down read. The interwoven plot and strong characters make for one terrific story."
---Amazon.com
Additional Information
Foreign translation rights to Catch Me If You Can sold in hardcover and softcover to the U.K., and in softcover to Russia, France and Sweden. Also published in a large print edition.
Details
Softcover Editions
- Publisher: Avon Books (1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0-380-77876-9
By Rabbi E.B. Freedman, Jan Greenberg and Karen A. Katz
Is everything in the Bible true? Why are there bad people in the world? Can't God stop them? Why do I need to learn to read, write, and speak Hebrew? Why do we fast on Yom Kippur? Where do we go after we die?
This classic reference--updated for the 21st century--provides answers to more than 180 questions that Jewish children most frequently ask about their faith. The authors cover not only the basics of Jewish belief, custom, and practice but also the kinds of questions that arise from the unique way that children view the world, such as "Will the Messiah have superpowers like Batman or Superman?"
And perhaps most important for our time, What Does Being Jewish Mean? tackles the knotty philosophical questions that often leave parents stumped for quick and appropriate responses.
Reviews
"What Does Being Jewish Mean? will be a great help to parents seeking to answer their children's questions about Judaism and Jewish life. It will certainly be a wonderful source of information for adults anxious to share with young people an appreciation of their heritage."
---Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch, author of The Jewish Book of Why
“Offers serious answsers...in clear and direct language.”
---The New York Times Book Review
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase What Does Being Jewish Mean? from online retailers.
Details
Softcover Editions
- Publisher: Fireside (Simon & Schuster) (1991; revised, 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0-7432-5413-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-5413-7
Contact Information
Featuring Down Under By Karen Tintori
Twenty-eight leading voices in fiction - Including eleven New York Times Bestselling Authors - join together In a celebration of great storytelling. We love fiction. It's in our blood and it's in our souls. Great stories thrill us and inspire us in a way that nothing else can. If you're like us, then we invite you to revel in this anthology of all-original stories we've created for you. In Cast Of Characters, you'll meet a collection of unforgettable personalities. The devoted wife who discovers her husband's devastating secret. The Black Death survivor who reinvents herself. The woman who finds love in the arms of a dark, dangerous artist. The devoted scientist faced with a daunting ethical dilemma. The woman who hears ghosts. The gorgeous but fated young man. The small-town beauty queen with a world-class mean streak. The inventor who fears his invention. The man seeking a reunion decades later with his first love. The stalker who understands too late who he is stalking. The dreadful athlete who gets one opportunity to win. The man who loves a woman society will not allow him to love. These are only a few of the figures who will leap from the page and take residence in your heart.
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase Cast of Characters from online retailers.
Novelists Inc is the only writers organization devoted exclusively to the needs of multi-published novelists. This is our first anthology.
Details
Paperback Editions
- Pages: 484
- Publisher: Fiction Std (March 16, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1-9365-5850-5
- ISBN-13: 978-1-9365-5850-6
Contact Information
By Karen Tintori
Featuring two accounts by Karen Tintori, this latest book from Casa Italia is an anthology about the Italian American experience as seen through the eyes of women. The first book to focus exclusively on Chicago, it reveals information that has largely gone undocumented. The book is a collection of accounts -- both historical and personal -- told in essays, memoirs, fiction and poetry.
Reviews
Featuring two accounts by Karen Tintori, this latest book from Casa Italia is an anthology about the Italian American experience as seen through the eyes of women. The first book to focus exclusively on Chicago, it reveals information that has largely gone undocumented. The book is a collection of accounts -- both historical and personal -- told in essays, memoirs, fiction and poetry.
Karen's piece on the Ghost Bride of Chicago solves an old mystery.
Additional Information
Purchase - Follow these links to purchase Italian Women in Chicago from online retailers.