Al Capone had a lovely mother: A Memoir by Cathy Fiorello
I read Al Capone had a lovely mother on the first leg of a long-distance flight from Sydney to Europe in 2012. I initially bought the book mainly because of the title, which I found quite delightful, and was pleased to discover that the book itself is well written and easy to read. Cathy Fiorello’s writing exudes a self-confidence which gives a certain authority and security to the book as a whole. That said, I enjoyed the first part of the book most, in spite of the fact that the descriptions of holidays in France (Paris) – third part of the book – are sensually delightful and most readers will, no doubt, appreciate the trauma of having to begin again in a new place.
I would imagine that many people who experienced the Depression and the 1930s would have had similar experiences to Cathy Fiorello; her life, in other words, was not so different to the lives of many others who lived through the same period. However, the fact that she is able to describe the ordinariness in a manner that keeps the reader wanting to know more is a tribute to her skill with words.
