Wonderland: A Tale of Hustling Hard and Breaking Even
Serious and literary fiction, Journals and memoirs, Family and relationships, True crime
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
A &“touching memoir&” (The New York Times Book Review) that &“brilliantly blends a history of Boston and its surrounding areas with the history of a fascinating—and at times functional—family&” (Isaac Fitzgerald, New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts) as… one girl discovers how to break free from the criminal underworld that surrounds her.Nicole Treska was born to a family of gangsters. In the 1970s, during Boston&’s mob wars, her grandfather&’s diner was an unofficial headquarters for Whitey Bulger and other members of the Winter Hill Gang. Nicole&’s father was also an associate of the gang: there was talk that, before Nicole could walk, her stroller was used as a decoy to sell drugs. In 1985, her father was arrested and tried—sentenced to two years in prison for federal drug trafficking. Wanting to offer a better life to her children, Nicole&’s mother moved her and her sister out of Boston. As an adult, Nicole strove to separate herself from her past, establishing a career as a writer and professor in New York City. But when she learns her father&’s sister has passed away, she returns to her hometown and reunites with her dad—now stooped and struggling to walk on a bad knee. As she gets reacquainted with him and the old neighborhood, Nicole is forced to reconcile with her harrowing childhood and its lingering impact. A &“compelling portrait&” (Safiya Sinclair, National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of How to Say Babylon) &“written with urgency, vulnerability, and compassion&” (Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody&’s Daughter), Wonderland masterfully explores and elucidates the line between helping family and hurting ourselves.