'Women were certainly not yet mistresses of themselves. Would they ever be?'
First published in 1906, this semi-autobiographical novel is a key text for understanding Italian women's writing of the twentieth century and offers a tremendous insight into fin de si?cle Italian life and its social issues.
Aleramo's astonishing account takes the reader across a tormented journey of self affirmation - from the narrator's loss of innocence, grief and isolation, enlightenment then emancipation - offering a strikingly clear self-analysis and a vibrant depiction of the early feminist movement in Italy. It is a captivating Bildungsroman whose endpoint is a new, emancipated female identity.
