Mala Femina: A Woman's Life as the Daughter of a Don Book

To say that Terri Dalessio is an unusual woman who led an unusual life would be a major understatement. Born in Staten Island to its ruling underworld family, Terri Dee (as she became known in her preteen days) was unaware that her father and his brothers controlled that borough's loan-sharking, fencing, and vending machine industries. As a child, she rebelled against authority, creating so much turmoil in a Catholic school that she was expelled as an incorrigible. By the time she was thirteen, she managed to wreck her mother's automobile. A year later she ran away from home with two neighborhood boys. Seeking shelter in an unoccupied house, they managed to do sufficient damage to cost her parents a fortune in repairs. By sixteen she was considered the most beautiful girl in the area and an early affair resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, forcing her to give away her infant daughter. From there on Terri's life was a roller-coaster ride through affairs, marriages, a career as a saloon keeper and a foray into crime that ended in a prison sentence. Along the way she witnessed two murders, had other children and became addicted to heroin. Today Terri lives alone in New York City where she contemplates her past and views the future. With her collaborator, Patrick Picciarelli, Terri has written a startlingly colorful memoir. Her story will hook you from start to finish.Read More