Alba de Céspedes Books

When Valeria, a forty-year-old Roman woman, develops an obsessive interest in keeping a secret diary, she cannot imagine that her habit will ultimately challenge the entire structure on which her life and her family's is based. For with writing comes the dangerous habit of questioning scrutiny. And from these questions, the docile, self-sacrificing woman sees herself and those about her in a disturbing new perspective: her husband, Michele, married too young to pursue his interests, in his fifties a failure, victimized by an embryonic dream; her daughter, defiant, emancipated, and strong, whom she loves, and hates in the manner of a mother approaching menopause who sees her beautiful daughter mature and take a lover; her son, Ricardo, emulating his father's failures; her employer, who falls in love with the image Valeria's new self-awareness projects; and Valeria, herself, always compliant to tradition and martyred to the demands of her family who loves her, but reflects her own indifference to her needs. In the end there is no escape and little comfort. The diary will be burned, for after all, even if despised, the chains of circumstance are binding. This meticulous account of a woman's mature consciousness is revealed quietly and undramatically, but with the certain force of verity. KIRKUS REVIEW

Set in fascist Rome, this novel explores the intense emotional turmoil of a woman who finds herself compelled to commit murder against the man she loves. The story delves into themes of passion, betrayal, and the moral complexities of love in a politically charged environment, offering a gripping narrative that examines the darker sides of human relationships.

Valeria Cossati vive sofocada por las convenciones sociales de la Italia de los años cincuenta, atrapada entre sus roles de esposa y madre. Presa de un impulso inexplicable, compra un pequeño cuaderno en el que anota sus reflexiones y donde comienza a revelarse lo insatisfactorio de su vida burguesa: en ese espacio prohibido que le proporciona la escritura van aflorando conflictos subterráneos y resentimientos ocultos. Publicada originalmente en 1952, El cuaderno prohibido sigue resultando sorprendente por su modernidad y relevancia. Es un retrato magistral, capaz de desvelar la identidad fragmentada y cambiante del ser humano, además de un gran testimonio histórico de la época, que refleja tanto la crisis de los valores sociales e individuales como las encrucijadas a las que se enfrentaban las mujeres. Alba de Céspedes, «un redescubrimiento único» (Die Zeit), reivindicada hoy por grandes autoras como Elena Ferrante, fue una de las figuras más sobresalientes de su generación. Escritora de éxito, se convirtió en un referente de la lucha antifascista, y a sus inquietudes feministas y políticas sumó un compromiso irrenunciable hacia la palabra, tanto desde el periodismo como desde la literatura. Dotada de una profundidad psicológica inusual, fue «una de las pocas autoras que ha conseguido establecer lo que significa ser mujer» (The New York Times).