Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for All the Lies They Did Not Tell by Pablo Trincia, translated by Elettra Pauletto. Read on for more info and my review.
ALL THE LIES THEY DID NOT TELL
The True Story of Satanic Panic in an Italian Community
By Pablo Trincia, Translated by Elettra Pauletto
Amazon Crossing; August 1, 2022
True Crime
In 1997 a six-year-old boy questioned by authorities relayed disturbing stories of abuse. The more he talked, the more people were implicated in his shocking revelations. And he was only the first child to come forward.
Within a year, in two towns of the Bassa region of Italy, fifteen more children with similar tales were taken from their families and transferred to protected locations. Their parents were accused of belonging to a sect of satanic pedophiles who performed nighttime rituals in cemeteries under the guidance of a well-known local priest, Don Giorgio Govoni. With each child’s confession, the network of monsters they described grew and involved fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles, and acquaintances.
Except there were no adult witnesses and only circumstantial evidence. No one ever saw or heard anything. What was really happening in the Bassa Modenese? Italian investigative journalist Pablo Trincia returned to the scene of the crimes to find the answer. Together with his colleague Alessia Rafanelli, Trincia spent three years examining court records, interviewing experts and people involved, and visiting the places where the events took place. And the truth he uncovered is as terrifying as the lies.
“I quickly realized that this was not a story about pedophilia or Satanism,” Trincia explains. “It was much bigger than that. It had to do with mass hysteria, false memories, the justice system, the foster care system and much more.”
Amazon, IndieBound, Bookshop.org
Review
As an avid true crime fan, I couldn’t pass up All the Lies They Did Not Tell. I hadn’t heard this story anywhere else, so I was very intrigued to find out what happened.
This is a very devastating story. It is quite shocking to hear about the lies, the false memories, mass hysteria, the justice system, and so much more. The topics at hand are definitely not easy to read about and readers should take note before going into this. However, it was very eye opening and I was blown away when everything came together.
The writing is a little choppy, and not always easy to get into. However, I put that aside because the story really is incredible.
Overall, I’m impressed. I thoroughly enjoyed deep diving into this story and learning all that happened. I recommend this to true crime fans.
Thank you to OTRPR for the tour invite and Netgalley widget in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and unbiased.
Rating
4★
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pablo Trincia has worked as an award-winning correspondent and writer for print media, TV, and the web. In 2017, he and his colleague Alessia Rafanelli wrote the podcast Veleno, a highly acclaimed investigative audio series released in eight episodes on repubblica.it. The investigation reopened the case of the Devils of the Bassa Modenese, one of the darkest and most controversial cases the Italian legal system has tackled in recent years.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: Elettra Pauletto translates from Italian and French into English. Her writing and translations have appeared in Harper’s, Guernica, and Quartz, while her book translations have spanned a range of subjects, including music, art, and narrative nonfiction. She earned her MFA in creative writing and translation from Columbia University and now divides her time between Italy and western Massachusetts. For more information visit http://www.elettrapauletto.com.
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Jessica Belmont 