Literary Las Vegas: ‘La Bella Mafia’
Local authors Morgan St. James and Dennis Griffin delve into the dark life of Bella Capo in the new Houdini Publishing book “La Bella Mafia.” The daughter of a drug-addicted mother and a father whose associates included politicians and members of organized crime, Capo spent much of her childhood in foster homes and rehabilitation centers. As a young adult, she ran clubs on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip and became a boss in the Crips. Although her life was on the line many times, Capo survived to co-found La Bella Mafia, an online group that provides assistance to battered women.
Capo is slated to speak alongside “My Father, My Don” author Tony Napoli, son of mob boss Jimmy “Nap” Napoli, from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, as part of the library’s Mob Month programs. Speakers are scheduled to participate in the free programs every Tuesday in January. For more information, visit lvccld.org.
Excerpt from ‘La Bella Mafia’
I warn you, this book is not for the faint of heart. No child or young woman should ever have to go through what I did. If you looked at our family on the surface, we appeared to be living the American Dream with a nice house, luxuries, my father’s successful career and plenty of his important friends. The dark secrets of a sadistically abusive father and brother, sexual abuse, ties to organized crime and free-flowing drugs should have had no place in the life of a little girl who twirled and danced in her perfect pink bedroom while wearing a fluffy tutu. That lovely image was what everyone saw, while the horrendous underbelly of our family remained hidden, and continued into my life as a teen and adult. You might think things like these only happen in movies, on TV or in fiction, but let me assure you, everything is true. By all odds, I should have died many times but something in me gave me the strength to close out the horrible reality, the physical abuse and living on the edge. Every page is stained with my tears.
