This fresh take on the epistolary novel tells the story of a family through the disparate perspectives of a teenage daughter writing in her diary, a mother composing letters, and a grandmother speaking into a recorder. In turns heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, it is a triumph of voice and style from one of Italy’s most renowned writers.

DACIA MARAINI is one of Italy’s most pre-eminent and beloved writers. In 1973 she founded the Teatro delle Maddalene, dedicated to works by women; she has written over thirty plays, as well as such novels as Voci (Voices) and the international bestseller La Lunga Vita di Marianna Ucrìa (The Silent Duchess).  
 
ELVIRA G DI FABIO holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, where she directed the Italian program and taught literary translation. Among her many published works are translations of Dacia Maraini’s plays “The Gecko” and “Bakunin: The Lion and the Crocodile.”

Foreword: The Power of Words, Sara Teardo
Translator's Note, Elvira Di Fabio

Life, Brazen and Garish

Notes on Contributors