Th e Hollywood treatment of the mafi a has largely been centred on male roles. Women existed, if at all, as sexy decoration, dutiful wives, very occasionally as reluctant accomplices, rarely as rebels. Th ey seldom participated in the actual organization and development of the criminal business. Ombretta Ingrasc ì ’s pathbreaking study engages the reader in a far more complex perspective. Her fascinating account shows how women succeeded in breaking the ‘glass ceiling’ even in a traditional criminal organization such as the Italian mafi a. Th is is bound to raise eyebrows. It shows that the mafi a and ‘its’ women have managed both to build on their traditional values (the so-called ‘code of honour’, the misogynistic commitment to ‘family values’) while at the same time adapting to major social and cultural changes.