Hello Select your address All Hello, Sign in. that's why she's deaf and mute. “To participate in embracing the bodies of strangers who have become close and intimate through the printed page, is this not is good as experiencing that embrace, with one additional advantage: that of being able to remain in control of oneself?”, This challenging but arresting work of feminist historical fiction examines the world of eighteenth-century Sicily, with a focus on the arrogant and corrupt aristocracy. Cover story in Solander. If you love meticulously researched, literary, historical fiction written from a feminist perspective, this is the book for you. Emma Linfield's 7th book is a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). This edition was published in 1998 by The Feminist Press in New York. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. I found Maraini's prose at times beautiful and at times oppressive, often both at the same time. She is lovely and intelligent, descendant of an ancient aristocratic family but she has what was then a fixed, untreatable handicap: she is a deaf-mute. Also I felt like it dragged in the middle, but picked itself up at the end. Cart She remains deaf and dumb. The Silent Duchess is the timeless story of one woman’s struggle to find her own voice after years of silence. The Silent Duchess, a historical novel, fictional autobiography, and bildungsroman, reflects the evolution of the twentieth-century Italian women’s movement from feminism to neo-feminism. At that time women of all ranks and classes were undervalued and abused, but the deaf-mute duchess discovered books and was able to disappear into. *If you like powerful Dukes, loving Duchesses and a marvelous depiction of the majestic Regency and Victorian era, then The Unusual Story of the Silent Duchess is the novel for you. I never heard of the author. There is a strong class system with nobles living well, but precariously. Hire Writer. The Silent Duchess: Maraini, Dacia, Kitto, Dick, Spottiswood, Elspeth: Amazon.sg: Books. Edition Notes Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-261). This challenging but arresting work of feminist historical fiction examines the world of eighteenth-century Sicily, with a focus on the arrogant and corrupt aristocracy. The book is about a deaf and mute Duchess, victim of a terrible and (until halfway through the book) mysterious childhood trauma. She escapes into art for awhile, painting. . And when it did, I felt relief. "Set in the mid-eighteenth century, Dacia Maraini's unforgettable novel tells the story of three generations of the Ucria family, seen through the watchful eyes of the young Duchess Marianna. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. He hopes and prays that the trauma of seeing the hanging will return her senses. Marianna's mother spends her life in bed dosing herself with snuff and laudanum. The premise of the story is interesting but the way it was written makes it very difficult and boring to read. You're supposed to be uncomfortable and angry reading this, this isn't a book you can just read and feel satisfied and wholesome with. As this novel, set in mid-eighteenth century Sicily, was one of the better pieces of historical fiction I have read in recent times. The author has also had an uncommon life, and is acclaimed in Italy for her feminist writing. It was recommended to me by a friend whose literary judgement I trust and respect and I was not disappointed. egads!!! Welcome back. I picked it up because it is set in Sicily where we recently went on our anniversary trip, and it is deeply evocative of the sights and smells of that beautiful island. The silent duchess. Not that that's in anyway a criticism. The silent duchess Dacia Maraini The silent duchess × Close. Since she won the Prix Formentor in 1963, Dacia Maraini has produced nothing finer than this." It arouses intense feeling, it provokes thought.' He stylish and casual, his stockings ruffled, his wig askew; she imprisoned inside a crimson bodice that highlights the wax-like pallor of her complexion. The Silent Duchess is a novel that would have delighted Nabokov. The father fair, handsome, smiling; the daughter awkward, freckled, fearful. One of the most jarring first chapters I’ve ever read. There are several things about this book that bothered me. I found the main character difficult to like or identify with. —Evening Standard (London) "This is a novel of the greatest vividness. Here they are, a father and a daughter. Since the book is well-written and interesting in its way then I suppose it is Italy that I have such a strong dislike for. This book is a strong and powerful criticism of female oppression, a woman's role in society, hypocrisy of men and the church, and the overall domination of women. We’d love your help. He writes to his daughter and she learns early to both read and write. More than a Matter of Words: Lucinda Byatt looks at four Italian historical novels in translation. Her loving father takes her, when she is 7 years old, to a hanging that he plays a part in. The Beautifully evocative and detailed narrative that avoids the problems of other pantomime counterparts, really vividly captures life o. Just too light, not what I was hoping for. Over and over again, we read about tremendous suffering, injustice, mor. In luminous language that conveys both the keen visual sight and the deep human insight possessed by her remarkable main character, Dacia Maraini captures the splendor and the corruption of Marianna's world and the strength of her unbreakable spirit. Start by marking “The Silent Duchess” as Want to Read: Error rating book. It is worthy and has many eloquent and, I am sure extremely well researched, accurate period descriptions of life in 18th Century Sicily- such as the podiatrist who for ten carlini, "pares the corns of both young and old, who all have problems with the little Parisian shoes with points like a hens neck and heels like the beak of a swan" - but whilst one struggles with the concept of these shoes it is difficult to appreciate a novel with quite so little action. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. This piece appeared as the cover story for the latest issue of Solander. The silent duchess. Skip to main content.ca. [who raped her when she was 4 or 5! Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. Like others of her period, class and sex, she has the standard life. He hopes and prays that the trauma of seeing the hanging will return her senses. The Silent Duchess. damn you goodreads!!! The titular character spends the book trying to find her agency. The Inquisition, the "Great White Fathers", the burning of people at the stake - a vast public event with all the royalty and religious big-wigs in their ceremonial clothes, the castrati, the hypocrisy of the dual face of Italy - pleasure seeking and piety. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Forced to marry her uncle, this novel explores life for women in a culture where arranged marriages and endless childbearing are the norm. The book's incredible attention to details, its sensual descriptions and the protagonist's keen insights are tempered by a sense of distance from the outer and inner worlds in which the Duchess dwells. The book's incredible attention to details, its sensual descriptions and the protagonist's keen insights are tempered by a sense of distance from the outer and inner worlds in which the Duchess dwells. Cart All. Be the first one to, New York : Feminist Press at The City University of New York, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Child sexual abuse -- Italy -- Sicily -- Fiction, Sexual abuse victims -- Italy -- Sicily -- Fiction, Sicily (Italy) -- Economic conditions -- 1700-1735 -- Fiction, Sicily (Italy) -- Social conditions -- Fiction, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). When I finished I read the afterword. Cool book. I picked this book up at a used bookstore. Third, when the nature of the trauma that caused the main character's malady is revealed, I feel that the event is not given the seriousness it deserves. Uploaded by At that time women of all ranks and classes were undervalued and abused, but the deaf-mute duchess discovered books and was able to disappear into the life of the mind. In addition to being a metaphor for women's lives rendered silent under the patriarchy, the title of Dacia Maraini's, [who raped her when she was 4 or 5! The descriptions of countryside, buildings, and characters are cinematic and helped me to maintain interest through philosophic musings and references to unfamiliar historical events. It is very hard for a child who cannot hear to learn to read. Hello Select your address Books Hello, Sign in. Refresh and try again. The Silent Duchess Dacia Maraini, Author, Dick Kitto, Translator, Elspeth Spottiswood, Translator Feminist Press $19.95 (264p) ISBN 978-1-55861-194-8 More By and About This Author Still a good story though. ew ew ew. Jolynnotaro. station39.cebu Da lì deve venire quella sua speciale capacità di accettare ogni noia col massimo della condiscendenza e il minimo dello sforzo.”, Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Nominee for Shortlist (1992), Green Party: The Recent Rise of Nature Books. Skip to main content.sg. This book was tedious. that's why sh. The Unusual Story of the Silent Duchess Extended Epilogue. The character is exceptional---rich, literate---but also in ways that do not all receive the resolutions they deserve. Nature, in Her infinite awesomeness, can provide solace even when you’re stuck in the house. This book starts with a drama - a terribly sad story of the hanging of a very young prisoner but the connections between this event and the little deaf mute Duchess seem so curious that I didn't find myself empathising with her enough to find this a captivating book. And then there is the story itself of the duchess, her condition of. The Silent Duchess is the story of Marianna Ucrìa, the victim of a mysterious childhood trauma that has left her deaf and mute, trapped in a world of silence. Way over my head. Love meticulously researched, literary, historical fiction set in Sicily ( author ’ s wrong with this of! Her and mostly seem to ignore her, when she was 4 or 5 paper and ink always at.! 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