In Red Hook, Brooklyn during the early 1900s, Sofia and Antonia are best friends and neighbors, members of "The Family," the local Italian mafia. When Antonia's father is disappeared, a wedge develops between the girls that will affect them as they grow older and begin to question the demands of their "family."

The Family is at heart a story about female friendship and motherhood. Close-knit as children, Sofia and Antonia drift as teenagers only to find connection again as new mothers. The 1930s Mafia serves as a backdrop to the story, serving to anchor the characters together, but The Family is much more Firefly Lane than The Godfather, which I enjoyed but others might not.