The Family Snitch: A Daughter’s Memoir of Truth and Lies

by Francesca Fontana

A journalist’s relentless, unsparing interrogation of family ties, the ways we deceive ourselves and others, and how we live with what we’ve done

A stunning debut, perfect for fans of Nicole Chung, Ashley C. Ford, and David Carr's The Night of the Gun

Francesca's parents represented opposing world-views. Her mother always slid her way out of questions about the past, saying only “My life started when you were born.” Her dad, an absent bodybuilder, loved telling stories about his seemingly larger-than-life past. He said he would tell her anything she wanted to know. But more often than not, it was a total lie. When Francesa was 9, he went to prison, and her mother, the grounding center of Francesca's world, moved her half a continent away...

The Family Snitch started as a youthful experiment in journalistic investigation. Francesca began to uncover her father's secret criminal past. But in her increasingly dogged pursuit of the truth at any cost, was she just selling everybody out?

In her thought-provoking exploration, Francesca also interrogates her own relationship to the truth, finding that she trusts almost no one and refuses to believe anything that can’t be backed by hard evidence. She turns to experts on memory and psychology, in search of someone to help explain the secrets kept between parents and children, and the inheritances they leave us in the fallout of their choices. She pulls on the threads that lead her back through the forms that came before this theater and film, Greek tragedy and myth.

The result is a page-turning memoir that is also an artful work of literature with enduring appeal.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Expected publication February 3, 2026

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one go and found it to be a very deep look into the author’s relationship with her dad. A really dysfunctional situation that most of us can relate to on some level. She shares her conclusion about his truthfulness, and what she eventually decides to do regarding him was surprising yet understandable.

[Faithe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Family Snitch: A Daughter's memoir of truth and lies by Francesca Fontana

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I found this book fascinating. The book drew me in quickly and the fact that it is a memoir made it that much more interesting to read. I love when the universe comes together and that the reporter's first breakthrough comes from a story close to home. Francesca utilizes investigative journalism to explore her father's criminal past and its impact on their family. Francesca reflects on her own OCD as she struggles with control as she learns that her world growing up is built on half-truths. It takes the reader through what one goes through when asking hard questions, even if the answers might disappoint. It also asks the question what is more important, keeping her family together or knowing the truth.

If you love true crime, I would highly suggest checking this one out!

This book is expected to hit stores Feb 3 2026.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francesca Fontana’s memoir, The Family Snitch, is an investigative excavation of familial myth-making and personal truth. A Wall Street Journal reporter by trade, the author turns her journalistic lens inward, confronting the most elusive and emotionally fraught sources of all: her parents.

Referred throughout as 'Frankie' her journey begins with a simple question; who were her parents, really? Her mother, evasive and emotionally guarded, insists that her life began with Frankie’s birth. Her father, a charismatic bodybuilder with a criminal past, spins tales so grand they collapse under fairly light scrutiny. The memoir charts Frankie’s relentless pursuit of clarity, revealing the tension between inherited narratives and verifiable fact.

What elevates The Family Snitch beyond a personal exposé is its intellectual rigor as the author consults experts in memory and psychology, probing how trauma and secrecy shape identity. Her candid reflections on living with OCD add another layer of complexity, as she grapples with compulsions for control and certainty in a world built on half-truths.

While the memoir is compelling I did find the emotional revelations muted. The portrait of Frankie’s father, absent, manipulative, and ultimately predictable, is drawn early and with clarity. As a result, later disclosures may feel less shocking than inevitable.

The Family Snitch is a memoir of confrontation. It’s a testament to the power of asking hard questions, even when the answers disappoint. For readers drawn to psychological depth, narrative ambiguity, and the ethics of truth-telling, This memoir offers the quiet devastation following an exploration of what it means to know, and expose, your own family.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating concept to investigate your family and write a memoir about it. That’s basically what the author did. Also, starting out initially to explore her estranged father’s criminal history, she ends up looking at memory and its accuracy.

Francesca “Frankie” called her parents by their first names: Al and Mia, which was a source of discomfort for me only because the natural connection between the parent and child was so lost, or so it seemed to me - though I note the author expressed a lot of love for her father. That aside (as every family has its unique dysfunctions), the story delves into Al’s various conflicts (and plots) with the law and his time in prison and how this was explained to her by family. Within these various telling and her findings later, Frankie grew distrustful of what was memory and what was truth and how this shaped her life and her mental health.

The book’s structure was at times off putting as it weaved back and forth from third person to first person. I struggled knowing who was what and when was what. But I give kudos for the author delving into her OCD and how that made her such a stickler for truth. By shining a light on how memory can change over time, the author points out how truth can be deceptive, which to me seemed to be a big message of the book.

I found this memoir interesting but I think its structure and writing style didn’t resonate with me, but I think this book offers a compelling truth about how secrets hurt families.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Chelsea Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

**ARC review**

Francesca Fontana's memoir, The Family Snitch, is a deeply personal and vulnerable work of investigative journalism that explores her father's criminal past and its impact on their family. While the premise is compelling, and Fontana's dedication to uncovering the truth is evident, the memoir struggles to consistently engage the reader. The narrative, while precise and methodical, can sometimes feel more like a journalistic report than a deeply felt personal reflection, and the chronological jumps can disrupt the emotional flow of the story.

Though the book offers powerful reflections on truth, deception, and the nature of family, the raw emotions that such a discovery would unleash feel somewhat muted. For those interested in true crime memoirs, it provides a unique and well-researched angle. However, the emotional distance in the prose may leave some readers wanting a more intimate connection to the profound subject matter. The book is a commendable effort, but it doesn't quite live up to its full potential as a truly searing and unforgettable family memoir.

[Lyss.j.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I don't like rating memoirs or books about people's lives. I personally don't think it's my place to rate what they lived. This book was kind of confusing in a sense that the style was very different than anything else I've read. It's hard to read what people have gone through and how they were treated as kids. I really resonated with her memory verses what really happened and your parents lying to you or telling you their version. Overall an excellent read and definitely worth the time.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkably ambitious (in a good way) multi-layered look at an unconventional family's coming together and falling apart. Funny, cutting, hopeful, singular. Despite the very particular elements of the author's life and experience, it speaks to universal truths about families and the agency we face in choosing to interrogate our inheritance, let sleeping dogs lie or even come to change the lot we were given.

[Cara Wittich · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating read! It makes perfect sense that a reporter’s first real breakthrough would come from a story close to home. The personal proximity adds layers, drawing you in quickly. A short read, I finished this in one sitting on a plane.