Her Side of the Story: From the author of FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK

A captivating feminist classic about a woman’s struggle for independence in fascist Italy–with an afterword by Elena FerranteFrom the author of Forbidden Notebook, Alba de Céspedes, a richly told novel she called “the story of a great love & of a crime.”°°°As she looks back on her life, Alessandra Corteggiani recalls her youth during the rise of fascism in Italy, the resistance, & the fall of Mussolini, the lives of the women in her family & her working-class neighborhood, rigorously committed to telling “her side of the story.” Alessandra witnesses her mother, an aspiring concert pianist, suffer from the inability to escape her oppressive marriage. Later, she is sent away to live with her father's relatives in the country, in the hope she’ll finally learn to submit herself to the patriarchal system & authority. But at the farm, Alessandra grows increasingly rebellious, conscious of the unjust treatment of generations of hardworking women in her family. When she refuses the marriage proposal from a neighboring farmer, she is sent back to Rome to tend to her ailing father.In Rome, Alessandra meets Francesco, a charismatic anti-fascist professor, who ostensibly admires & supports her sense of independence & justice. But she soon comes to recognize that even as she respects Francesco & is keen to participate in his struggle to reclaim their country from fascism, this respect is unrequited, & that her own beloved husband is ensnared by patriarchal conventions when it comes to their relationship. In these pages, De Céspedes delivers a breathtakingly accurate & timeless portrayal of the complexity of the female condition against the dramatic backdrop of WWII & the partisan uprising in Italy.°°°Jill Foulston has translated novels by Erri de Luca, Marco Balzano, Augusto de Angelis, & Piero Chiara. In 2020, she was shortlisted for theItalian Prose in Translation Award. Former editor at Penguin & Virago. “A courageous novel, beautifully imagined and written.” —Elena Lappin, The Washington Post "De Cespedes' work has lost none of its subversive force” —The New York Times Book Review * "De Céspedes’s melancholy testament to a hidden life feels timeless and vital." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) From the author of Forbidden Notebook , Alba de Céspedes, a richly told novel she called “the story of a great love and of a crime.” As she looks back on her life, Alessandra Corteggiani recalls her youth during the rise of fascism in Italy, the resistance, and the fall of Mussolini, the lives of the women in her family and her working-class neighborhood, rigorously committed to telling “her side of the story.” Alessandra witnesses her mother, an aspiring concert pianist, suffer from the inability to escape her oppressive marriage. Later, she is sent away to live with her father's relatives in the country, in the hope she’ll finally learn to submit herself to the patriarchal system and authority. But at the farm, Alessandra grows increasingly rebellious, conscious of the unjust treatment of generations of hardworking women in her family. When she refuses the marriage proposal from a neighboring farmer, she is sent back to Rome to tend to her ailing father. In Rome, Alessandra meets Francesco, a charismatic anti-fascist professor, who ostensibly admires and supports her sense of independence and justice. But she soon comes to recognize that even as she respects Francesco and is keen to participate in his struggle to reclaim their country from fascism, this respect is unrequited, and that her own beloved husband is ensnared by patriarchal conventions when it comes to their relationship. In these pages, De Céspedes delivers a breathtakingly accurate and timeless portrayal of the complexity of the female condition against the dramatic backdrop of WWII and the partisan uprising in Italy. "Set against the backdrop of fascist Rome, Her Side of the Story is a richly told novel about a woman driven to murder the man she loves"-- Provided by publisher