IN SEARCH OF MY STREGA NONA

One of the leading theories of Lorenza’s murder is that she was killed because she was a witch who crossed the wrong person? A strega, in Sicilian. What exactly is a Sicilian witch and what would she have done if she were one? What does it mean to call a woman a witch and why has it been used throughout history to put women in danger?  Want your own taste of Sicily – grab a bottle of The Sicilian Inheritance inspired OLIVE OIL direct from Sicily to BUY - GO HERE .  Snag your copy of  THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE, the novel!  Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Om Podcasten

Every family has an origin story – for author Jo Piazza (Under the Influence, Wilder) her family's is a murder mystery.  For as long as she can remember the Piazzas have told the story of their Sicilian roots going back over a hundred years ago: one by one the sons and then their father sailed off to America to carve out a better life. Their mother, Lorenza Marsala was supposed to join them – but she never made it. She was murdered by the Sicilian mafia, they said.  The truth of what happened has morphed like a game of telephone through the generations. Various versions of the story claim she was killed by the Black Hand, others insisted she was a witch, killed over a bad spell. Now, Jo is determined to untangle the twisted narrative which just might bridge the gap from cinematic mob fantasies to an unexpected reality.  Join her in Sicily on a family vacation/fact finding mission in which she goes to the scene of the crime, confronts mafia experts, consults mediums, and tracks down Italian officials, determined to set the record straight on her great, great grandmother’s mysterious disappearance.