Book Tour: All The Lies They Did Not Tell by Pablo Trincia

 

The Book's Delight is thrilled to host Pablo Trincia and his fabulous book, All The Lies They Did Not Tell, translated from Italian. Anyone who is old enough will remember the McMartin Preschool trial where the workers were falsely accused of child abuse will hear echoes of that case in this story. 

Synopsis:

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."

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 www.elettrapauletto.com.

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 | 256 pages | Paperback: $14.95, ISBN#: 978-1542039109;

Hardcover: $24.95, ISBN#: 978-1542039116

Kindle: $4.99, ISBN#: 978-1542033930

My review:

All The Lies They Did Not Tell, is the gripping true life story of a notorious Satanic Panic investigation in Italy which devastated entire families, leading to suicide and criminal convictions that tore entire families apart. Investigative reporter Pablo Trincia uncovers a mind boggling failure in the judicial system that will leave you reeling. It's hard to fathom how so many people got it so wrong. Beginning with a small lie, and a single child, the tales of satanic rituals and deaths spirals, stories that no one in authority seem to  question despite their outlandishness. 

By the time you finish this book you'll be angry and frustrated at a system that pinned their entire investigation on the word of a single child who now admits he might have made it all up. The stories of the families, and the children torn from their parents is mind-blowingly sad. They were lied to by those in power, and grew to hate the parents who adored them, some never giving up hope for reuniting their families. 

A powerful story, I highly recommend.