In the 1930s, Lucky Luciano, one of American history’s most notorious mobsters, was finally taken down by a rookie prosecutor, Eunice Carter. She was one of the first Black Women ever to become a prosecutor in America. She changed the course of history, but she has largely been forgotten. The Godmother tells the story of Eunice: a bad-ass anti-hero unafraid to bend the rules in pursuit of ambition, justice and legacy.

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In 1930s New York, infamous mob boss Lucky Luciano is standing trial. His story will inspire Hollywood retellings for decades to come. But beneath the mythology, there’s another story being overshadowed. That of the woman who masterminded his downfall: Eunice Carter.

She was one of the first Black female prosecutors in America, and her story begins in Atlanta, at the turn of the 20th century.

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s established Black Americans as tastemakers. In the vibrancy of her youth, Eunice moved to Harlem and became a fixture of the literary and social scene.

But Eunice hasn’t been remembered as clearly as the artists, communists, preachers, partiers and fur-coat-wearing socialites she brushed shoulders with.

As the 1920s draws to a close, all around Eunice, there are signs that New York’s underworld is rising closer to the surface.

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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By 1928, Eunice left the glamor of the Harlem Renaissance behind for the austere world of law school. She is dreaming of making a bigger impact on the world. 

As she separates herself from the legacy of her parents, and from the rest of her community, what will it cost Eunice to succeed in a new and unfamiliar world of law? 

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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While Eunice learns the letter of the law, her neighbors in Harlem are surviving by breaking it, and the mob’s power over nearly every facet of New York life grows stronger. 

New Yorkers are looking for a crusader, and in Thomas Dewey they find one. He’s New York’s newest mob-busting special prosecutor, and he finds himself in need of a certain plucky young attorney, with a deep knowledge of the Harlem community.

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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In 1935, Eunice Carter is at the center of the largest investigation of organized crime in U.S. history. Meanwhile, there's a power struggle raging in the heart of organized crime and as the dust settles, Lucky Luciano finds himself at the top.

As Lucky’s star rises, Eunice finds herself sidelined with the beat nobody seems to want: investigating mob links to New York’s sex work industry. As she pieces together seemingly innocuous pieces of gossip - a picture begins to emerge. Eunice forms a plan that leads her right to Lucky Luciano.

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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In the summer of 1936, New York watches with baited breath, as Lucky Luciano stands trial. He’s been charged alongside some of organized crime's most violent strongmen. 

Their fate sits in the hands of Eunice’s witnesses: a handful of sex workers, many of whom are experiencing brutal heroin withdrawal as they sit on the witness stand. 

This stand-off would become known as the trial of the century. So why isn’t Eunice Carter in court to see the results of all her painstaking work?

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

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Lucky Luciano’s conviction sits atop a rising wave of public panic about the seeping influence of crime and corruption on American life. 

It’s a perception that’s been mythologised in Hollywood retellings about the mob for decades. The idea of an all-powerful mafia served Thomas Dewey’s professional ambitions well too, but how much of it was actually true?

The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.