New Italian Women: A Collection of Short Fiction

by Martha King

This collection of twenty-four stories by seventeen contemporary Italian women celebrates a high level of accomplishment that draws on a tradition of women's literature in Italy, but also marks a new and exciting vitality in Italian fiction. Writing of various experiences and from different regions, these women all create with an ease born of confidence in their art. They exhibit a control, an emotional detachment, that allows the deep irony of their invented world to play below the surface. They have a succinctness, a skill in limiting, that reveals more than layers of detail possibly could. These women share a talent for contriving psychological insights that surprise and touch the reader. Authors include Anna Banti, Grazia Deledda, Paola Drigo, Natalia Ginzburg, Geda Jacolutti, Gina Lagorio, Rosetta Loy, Dacia Maraini, Milena Milani, Marina Mizzau, Giuliana Morandini, Elsa Morante, Maria Occhipinti, Anna Maria Ortese, Fabrizia Ramondino, Francesca Sanvitale, and Monica Sarsini.

Genres: Italy, Short Stories, Literature, Fiction, Italian Literature

218 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 1989

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is carefully named 'A Collection of Short Fiction' as it comprises a mix of stories and extracts from longer works: that's fine if you're looking for an anthology that offers tasters of Italian women with whom you may not be familiar but it does mean that this doesn't always stand up as a book in its own right.

That said, the mix of known and unknown writers is engaging, and the variety of pieces makes the whole worthwhile. Perhaps, though, it's no coincidence that the standout pieces for me were by known names: Anna Banti's 'The Courage of Women' with its gorgeous and horrific intimacy; and the extract from Natalia Ginzburg's The City and the House.

[Amy Lafayette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spousal abuse, death by poison, suicide, bodily deformities…and those are just the first few stories. Definitely not the empowering collection of female stories I had envisioned from the cover and title. Though published in ‘89, most stories were set pre-1900 and I couldn’t relate to the content. I quit reading halfway through because it was too depressing.

[Velichka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short fiction is difficult to write and sometimes read as well. Some of the stories work really well but when taken out of novels they are more difficult. Overall some gloomy moods but really good to have this collection!

[Karina Montalvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historias dóciles y viscerales. Aunque a muchas autoras ya las conocía y había leído, mi gran descubrimiento fue Francesca Sanvitale.

[Alyssa Tallama]

"The Courage of Women" by Anna Banti - 2.5 stars
"The Electric Typewriter" by Francesca Santivale - 2.75 stars
"My Mother Wore Pink" by Milena Milani - 1 star
"Maria" by Dacia Maraini - 4 stars
"The Mirrors" by Elsa Morante - 2 stars

soon to be read:
"The Tree" by Anna Maria Ortese