Woman of Rome: A Life of Elsa Morante

Front Cover
Harper Collins, Oct 6, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 288 pages

The first biography in any language of one of the most celebrated Italian writers of the twentieth century.

Born in 1912 to an unconventional family of modest means, Elsa Morante grew up with an independent spirit, a formidable will, and an unshakable commitment to writing. Forced to hide from the Fascists during World War II in a remote mountain hut with her husband, renowned author Alberto Moravia, she re-emerged at war's end to take her place among the premier Italian writers of her day. When Rome was film capital of the world, she counted Pasolini, Visconti, and the young Bertolucci among her circle of friends. She was charismatic, beautiful, and fiercely intelligent; her marriage, a passionate union of literary giants, captivated a nation; her love affairs were intense and often tragic. And until now few Americans have known of this remarkable woman and her powerful, original talent.

 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
one TWO UNCLES
7
two SECRET GAMES
23
three DIARY 1938
37
seven ARTUROS ISLAND
109
eight WITHOUT THE COMFORT OF RELIGION
129
eleven HISTORY
175
twelve ARACOELI
197
thirteen ELSAS DEATH
213
epilogue
223
Works by Elsa Morante
245
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About the author (2009)

Born in Paris, LILY TUCK is the author of four previous novels: Interviewing Matisse, or the Woman Who Died Standing Up; The Woman Who Walked on Water; Siam, or the Woman Who Shot a Man, which was nominated for the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction; and The News from Paraguay, winner of theNational Book Award. She is also the author of the biography Woman of Rome: A Life of Elsa Morante. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker and are collected in Limbo and Other Places I Have Lived. Lily Tuck divides her time between Maine and New York City.

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