The Godfather's Daughter

by Rita Gigante, Natasha Stoynoff

On the surface, Rita Gigante’s family looked like all the other Italian Catholics in her suburban New Jersey neighborhood. But behind closed doors, they had a secret—her father was notorious crime boss Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, head of all five New York crime families. In The Godfather’s Daughter, Rita takes us on her emotional and spiritual journey growing up on the tumultuous fringes of the underworld. Her struggles with deception and honesty, violence and love, and sickness and healing finally lead Rita up to a world of light—and a life where she can finally accept and bravely live her own truth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, True Crime, Family

301 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Rita Gigante has dedicated her adult life to healing people spiritually, emotionally, and physically. She has a degree in exercise physiology and is a licensed massage therapist and Reiki master. In 2010 she formed the Collective Healing Network, a group of healers that conducts monthly sessions in New York and New Jersey. Rita also has a private practice outside of New York City, where she uses healing methods including energy therapy, intuitive healing, spiritual counseling, sound therapy, and angel readings.

Reviews

[Sfar89 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book. That is, up until all of the faith healing nonsense. I try not to let my atheistic views interfere with any story i read, but I felt like I started reading a completely different book once I hit the spirit chapters. I loved reading about Rita's childhood and her father and what one might go through being the daughter or a mafia boss. That was all very interesting. The rest of the book could fall off the face of the earth and I wouldn't miss it one bit.

[Honeybee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Due to the title, I was hoping this book would provide some good research material about the mafia for a book I'm working on. I didn't realize it was actually a disturbing memoir about a very sad little girl from a horribly twisted family.

With both an intimidating and unapproachable father, as well as an emotionally frail and weak-willed mother, Rita Gigante was in a classic set-up for mental illness. She suffered psychosomatic maladies, OCD, debilitating depression, a violent temper and a host of other issues from very early in her childhood.

By early adolescence, she "knew" she was "gay," but that her deeply religious family would not accept it. So--along with all the other secrets she was charged to keep--this, too, she kept locked inside. Raised in an Italian Catholic home, she wrestled with the church's teaching that she was hell-bound, when she was convinced God "made her this way" in the first place. This was just one of many lies she believed about herself, others and God that kept her twisted in knots emotionally and plagued her physically.

Kept in the dark for years regarding her father's occupation Rita was both relieved and disgusted when she learned what he really did for a living. She especially hated to participate in her father's ruse of mental illness to confound police.

As sad as her childhood was, Rita's adult years were no better. A series of therapists, lovers and occult specialists led her to trade one set of lies for others--including an openly lesbian lifestyle and the practice of some bizarre New Age beliefs.

It was touching to see her finally reconciled with her father through correspondence during his incarceration. But when he died and she and her friends began communicating with what they believed was his spirit, she clearly entered into a new level of bondage--even though she "felt" free.

As for the visions the author has seen, 2 Corinthians 11:14 says the devil "masquerades as an angel of light." Why not disguise himself as Jesus and Mary, too?

I cannot recommend this book to anyone. Although the author seems very compassionate and sincere, she is sincerely WRONG. She has swallowed a pack of lies about herself, God and others, and is now leading people astray with this book and her "healing" ministry.

Genesis 1:26-28 says God created humankind as male and female. Marriage was to be between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24 & Matthew 19:5). Leviticus 18-20 not only condemns intercourse with members of the same sex, but it also forbids the practice of medium-ship, or "channeling" spirits of the dead. Revelation 21:8 & 22:15, Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 1:18-32 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 make it clear that those who practice these things are deceived and bar themselves from heaven. The good news is, that those who agree with God that these things are wrong and turn to Him, instead, can be washed clean of the past and its effect on them.

It grieves me to see how much this woman has been hurt and how the enemy of her soul continues to toy with her and make her even more confused and twisted in her thinking--all the while leading her to believe she is free. I hope the author finds true healing and freedom in Christ. Meanwhile, it would be beneficial if her book goes quickly out of print.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rita, one of the youngest daughters of Mafia boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, was named after Saint Rita, the Saint of the Impossible. Rita, called Ri by her family, has accomplished the impossible in her life: She found herself, her father, forgiveness, family, love, her calling, God, and peace.

Rita is a fascinating woman, in many respects. She really drew me in because she expressed herself so openly and clearly as she explained what it was like to have a mafia boss as her father: the violence, detachment, betrayal, lies, deceit, expectations. I could relate to experiences she had, particularly with her frequent illnesses and depression related to her stress and the impact the horror of that kind of life had on her life. In her early life, Rita hid away the violence and the bad experiences instead of facing them and dealing with them. It was interesting to see how she learned the connection between brain and body, how she took responsibility and control over her life and made the decisions she needed to in order to find happiness and all the other impossible things she accomplished.

Ri is a good storyteller: Detailing the history of her childhood, the "script" that passed as a conversation with her father, and describing her family members, their reactions and either loyalties or silence, was quite captivating. She had my rapt attention and I liked getting to know her family, what life was like as the daughter of a mafia boss, and why people behaved in a certain way.

"We choose what we are capable of, and no one should judge another's journey." Rita includes these words in her epilogue, and like so many other things in her book, they resonated with me. This is not to say that I agreed with everything (some things I strongly disagreed with, but it was OK - I didn't feel like it took away from the good I got from reading the book) or that I understood everything or felt comfortable with everything or could relate to everything. The talk about reading someone's energy, channeling the dead, and being a healer, was intriguing, but I didn't feel an understanding of what it meant. I just couldn't feel it. But it could be a valuable lesson for me about being more open and learning something from someone else's experiences, even if I don't get to enjoy an understanding of those experiences.

This book made me think, question, and feel. I liked that.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Godfather’s Daughter: An Unlikely Story of Love, Healing, and Redemption is the memoir of Rita Gigante, daughter of Vincent “Chin” Gigante, the former head of the Genovese crime family in New York City.

Rita’s tale isn’t one of a lavish lifestyle and the kissing of rings, however. Her father was never one to bask in the wealth he surely must have accumulated. Instead, Gigante famously feigned mental illness for years in order to try to avoid eventual prosecution; he’d walk the streets in his pajamas and talk to parking meters. In other words, not much glamour there.

Accordingly, Rita’s childhood was lived partially in what she calls the “dungeon,” her grandmother’s place in the city that was kept dark to keep out any prying eyes, and New Jersey, where Gigante kept one of his two families. Biological families, that is, not crime families.

Growing up the daughter of The Chin, Rita became a master secret keeper — she had no choice, really — but that ability was put the test when she realized she was gay. The Godfather’s Daughter traces Rita’s life from her earliest (suppressed) childhood memories through her struggles with her Catholic faith and coming out to her family and finally to her finding her calling, using her hands to heal people.

Rita had to fight her way out of both the literal and figurative dungeon of her family’s pull, combating lies, violence, and illness along the way; she tells this story of her path to finding and living her own truth beautifully in The Godfather’s Daughter.

Although some parts got a bit repetitive and the writing itself isn’t necessarily award-winning, this book tells a gripping tale that kept me turning the pages. Toward the end, Rita (and therefore the book) becomes quite spiritually charged as she participates in “laying on of the hands” rituals and recounts conversations with her father from beyond the grave. I mention this because those whose minds aren’t open to such things may not enjoy the latter half of this book. I’m not a believer myself, but I love reading about other’s experiences with their spirituality, and that is where this book really shines — in the tale of Rita’s spiritual growth from an indoctrinated Catholic girl to an independently thinking woman who still seems to carry strong Catholic faith, with some decided twists.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topics of organized crime (particularly regarding how it affects families), sexual orientation/coming out stories, and spiritual and religious growth.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rita Gigante was the daughter of Vincente Gigante, the leader of the Gigante family in New York City and the supreme head of all 5 crime families there. He died in December 2005,after having several months in federal prison. The story she has to tell is one of initially seeing her father once beat a man to a pulp at age 5, watching him for years faking mental illness and living with his mother while carrying two families, her mother whom he had married and a second woman whom he kept secret. Rita tells us that she grew up with OCD and anxiety problems. Conventional medicine never helped her but she was able to talk about her family so couldn't be effective. Her feelings about her Catholic religion is similar. Rita is also gay and dated women from a young age, she came out to her parents and found her self put right back in the closet. A story I think people should hear more often because it happens and the release someone is looking for may not be forthcoming from parents. I was impressed with the writing of Natasha Stoynoff who wrote this autobiography with Rita Gigante. The book makes sense of a person who sounds a bit insane and gives her a voice she could never have without her. The subtitle, An Likely Story of Love, Healing and Redemption is accurate. Rita goes for untraditional, holistic medicine, is a masseuse and is a healer of some kind. She sees Mary and Jesus and the ghost of her father everywhere. With Natasha's sane writing I got a good picture of a person who is very different than me. That's not a bad thing at all but I bet those interviews with Rita for the book were something else!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rita Gigante certainly had a strange, dysfunctional family life growing up. This is an interesting look at Mafia life, because it focuses not on the Family but on the family; not on criminal activity and famous gangsters, but the humble wives and children trapped in the underworld’s orbit without their consent. What is it like for your father to be head of a crime family? Not great. Rita’s father may not have been insane like he tried to pretend for the courts, but he was not a healthy man. Gigante and Stoynoff do a nice job of keeping the focus on Rita and family issues instead of rehashing well-worn mob tropes. The prose is nothing remarkable and is rather pedestrian, but they get the job done. The spiritual healing and psychic stuff is a little off-the-wall. However, I don’t think the reader needs to believe in that stuff to recognize and hopefully appreciate that Rita has found, by the end of her tale, a more healthy and fulfilling adulthood that one would have ever expected from her family background. This could be a little more exciting and have better narrative flow, but this book is a thoughtful look at the real consequences of Mafia life.

[Jess Sousa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my 3rd 4th time trying to read this book and I stop at the same spot every time I cannot pass page 20-23 I just can’t. I thought I would really enjoy this book bc I really enjoy reading about organized crime but this was too much! I’m a empath my self and this was just overwhelming to read bc it felt like the story was repeating its self and again I could t pass page 23

Suggestion: this should have a audio version to see if it may help readers read this story better

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Most Unique Young Woman

This memoir was surprising, because of the title one assumes that the daughter followed in the footsteps of her father, Vincent Gigante, head of one of the five Mafia families in the New York Area. This is the story of Rita, the youngest child of Vincent and Olympia Gigante, both of whom were Italian American, although deeply steeped in the customs of old Italy because of their Italian immigrant parents. Rita’s oldest sister Yolanda helped raise her and her other older siblings were Rose, Sal and Andrew. Her brothers and sisters had all moved out by the time that Rita started school and began to wonder about the relationship between her mother and father and herself. From the time she was five, she remembered sleeping in the same bed with her mother in a spacious house in old Tappon, Jersey and her father resided across the Hudson River in an old ground floor Manhattan apartment with his mother. Rita’s time was split between being with her mother and then with her father. She instinctively loved her father, but hated going to the apartment because the windows were totally covered and it was so dark and she considered it like a dragon’s lair. But her father ignored her except for asking how she was and then she no longer existed for him. She could feel the power he held over everyone even as a child, except for his mother. He would come to Jersey some weekends and spend the entire time with Olympia and Rita was aware of how happy Olympia would be then, but when alone spent much of her time crying. Olympia was very beautiful and Vincent was most handsome and Olympia was passionately in love with her husband to the day he died.

Rita could never find out what kind of work her father did to support the family and so she lied to her childhood friends and made up jobs. Then her father was supposed to have been in the Army in 1959 and serving for five years. She was told these beautiful stories of his service. But her sister Yolanda discovered trial papers that showed he was in jail. As Rita grew up, she learned bits and pieces about her father and no matter what was said, she was told to “don’t tell.” As children can do, she was aware of this air of violence and power around her father and his temper was vicious. As the years passed, this atmosphere took its toll as Rita was extremely sensitive and so she was sickly and missed much school. It was also a common practice in the household to say that her father was sick and whenever he was in public, he acted like he was mentally ill. Never knowing the truth of her father, when she was a teenager a friend of the family told her that her father was the head of one of the five Mafia families and Rita realized then why people either kowtowed to him or shied away like they were afraid.

In Rita’s younger school years, she was harassed by children at school. Rita never liked to dress like a girl and she had learned that Italian men held the power. The Italian women were just to serve their men and Rita rebelled. She dressed like a boy and one day got so angry at being continually bullied by this boy, that she attacked him and did him bodily harm. From then on, she acted like a boy and as she became a teenager, she realized many people were afraid to cross her because of who her father was. She finally realized she was gay and found a few girlfriends who were gay also, but when she finally told her folks, her father exploded. Her childhood years were so full of anxiety and this sense of secrecy along with her father playing like he was mentally ill that when she became a young adult, she describes herself as being full of anxiety, depression, violence and obsessive-compulsive behavior. She went to counseling for years, which helped, but couldn’t unlock all of these buried memories in her mind of what she saw and heard and then imagined through nightmares.

All of the members of this family and most Italians were most devout Catholics. Even her father prayed all of the time, although he did not attend confession or church, expecting to stay in God’s good graces even though he was ordering the murder of others. As an adult, Rita had several women lovers, worked with a chiropractor and met a priest who could touch one’s forehead, which filled the receiver with such angelic energy that they would collapse. Rita attended this event one night, and from then on, life changed for Rita. She went to college, took training both scholastically and with metaphysical healers, becoming a healer herself. She then relates various metaphysical experiences that she had, including after her father’s death in jail, after he had been tried, convicted and was serving a sentence of twelve years. He was seventy-seven when he passed over.

This is a story of a most unusual life, much emotional pain and suffering, but which Rita feels had its purpose and she is filling it and sharing it for what she feels will be beneficial for others. It is well written and perhaps a little unbelievable for those who haven’t had like experiences, but I found it to be interesting and certainly different. I recommend it on that basis.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional read for those interested in the topic.

I won a copy of this on Goodreads.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rita Gigante’s childhood was anything but normal. Sure she looked like your everyday Catholic girl from New Jersey. But Rita’s father was Vincent “Chin” Gigante, a notorious crime boss who faked mental illness to avoid prosecution.

Gangster movies and television shows depict a glamorous lifestyle for capos and their families while showing an undercurrent of tension and fear. For Rita, life was filled with fear and uncertainty.

Read my full review at TheCelebrityCafe.com

[Angela Rao-Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest was piqued when my cousin posted something about this book in Facebook recently. Evidently he knows the author. The subject was of interest too since I grew up on the periphery of NYC around the same time as the author, from an Italian family, with family living in little Italy. The book was a fast read and kept me reading. The message of healing, learning and growing is always a good one but I don't buy her final chapter seemingly absolving her father for his sins. But it's her life, who am I to say?

[Ajitabh Pandey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a review copy. By reading the title of the book I thought the daughter might have followed her father's footsteps, but gladly it was not the case.

The author has very beautifully and in a very descriptive way captured her childhood days wondering about her father's profession and her relationship with her parents.

A very refreshing auto-biography.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the mysterious life of the Mob, through a daughter's point of view. Rita has written her story with such passion. It was very easy for me to feel connected with Rita and her family as she described the complicated details of her family life. The ability to release her fears, anxiety, and horrific memories has lead Rita down a path of forgiveness and healing.

[Joann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about growing up in an Italian family albeit a "connected" one. Since I am of Italian heritage I can only imagine how difficult it was for Rita growing up in a split family. I applaud her for the courage it took to be true to herself and to make a life for herself.

[Sharon Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating autobiography of a brave young woman who has faced the demons of her childhood and used her experiences to help others gain strength and self-confidence. Written in her own voice, reading Rita’s story is like sitting down and talking with a friend.

[Darlene Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your healer,intuitive you'll love it.

[Girl 27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous! I felt as if I was by Rita's side every step of the journey . A Must Read

[Tass (lovemyreading) Assante · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Unlikely Story of Love, Healing, and Redemption ... This should have been the title .... Truly describes the book.. well written

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. The book is about healing and I know Rita

[Suzanne Citera]

Excellent book. Thoroughly enjoyed

[Louisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started good. Interesting life of the "crazy" Gigante running around NY in his PJs and his family. Lost me towards the end when she "found religion".

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the beginning the most. It was interesting.

[Nathan Davis]

Came across this book in a random stack of other books and read it on a whim. The author’s father was one of the top mob bosses in New York city and eluded capture for decades. On top of that, he had a second family of wife and kids that he kept secret from the author and her mother.
An interesting read about how a daughter, and really the entire family, could have absolutely no clue about her father’s double life. The first three quarters of the book was particularly engaging, but the last quarter it kind of goes off the deep end. What made the book compelling was the journey of the author’s recovery from witnessing a brutal murder and her own repressed sexuality.

Spoilers ahead.

Her father dies and she starts seeing her father’s spirit helping out in everything she does. However his “ghost” acts nothing like he did in life, but rather how she wish he could have behaved. Depending on your worldview, it could be that his father had shed the mortal bounds that kept him from being his trueself, or his daughter is simply projecting the father that she wish she had.