A Woman

Description

The heart-wrenching autobiographical novel that paved the way for feminist writers in Italy 'To love, to sacrifice oneself, and to submit! Was this what all women were destined for?' When her carefree, aspirational childhood in a seaside town is brought brutally to an end, the nameless narrator of Sibilla Aleramo's blazing autobiographical novel discovers the shocking reality of life for a woman in Italy at the dawn of the twentieth century. As she begins to recognize the similarities between her own predicament and the plight of her mother and the women around her, she becomes convinced that she must escape her fate. Unashamed and remarkably ahead of its time, A Woman is a landmark in European feminist writing.

Sibilla Aleramo (1876-1960), the pseudonym of Marta Felicina Faccio, was an Italian author and poet best known for producing some of the first feminist writing in Italy and for her autobiographical depictions of life as a woman in late nineteenth-century Italy. She was a recipient of the prestigious Viareggio R paci award and was active in political and artistic circles throughout her adult life.

A groundbreaking, earthquaking vision, a story and a manifesto, and a literary performance so energetic it almost demands to be read aloud . . . Readers who like to underline striking passages will need to keep their pencils sharp -- John Self * Guardian * What makes A Woman stand out is the rawness of its story ... and the fact that Aleramo was ahead of her time -- Caroline Moorehead * TLS * She blurred the boundaries of autobiography and the novel, singular self and narrative other -- Selby Wynn Schwartz The first Italian feminist novel ... her voice brings us back to the present, with the dose of courage needed to freely choose one's destiny * La Repubblica * Powerful -- Luigi Pirandello