{"title":"Alba De Céspedes","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the passionate and insightful world of Alba de Céspedes. Explore her compelling novels that explore themes of female identity, societal expectations, and post-war Italy. A must-read for fans of Elena Ferrante.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"forbidden-notebook-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781782277507","title":"Forbidden Notebook","description":"Out running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, the constant churn of the domestic routine and her fears that her husband will discover her new habit. With each entry Valeria plunges deeper into her interior life, uncovering profound dissatisfaction and restlessness. As she finds her own voice, the roles that have come to define her-as wife, as mother, as daughter-begin to break apart.  Forbidden Notebook is a rediscovered jewel of Italian literature, published here in a new translation by the celebrated Ann Goldstein and with a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri. A captivating feminist classic, it is an intimate, haunting story of domestic discontent in postwar Rome, and of one woman's awakening to her true thoughts and desires.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49512245100817,"sku":"GOR013050920","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50059327045905,"sku":"GOR012977361","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53072631595281,"sku":"GOR014728149","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1782277501.jpg?v=1777630255"},{"product_id":"her-side-of-the-story-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781782277583","title":"Her Side of the Story","description":"A captivating feminist classic about a woman's struggle for independence in fascist Italy, from the author of Forbidden Notebook - with an afterword by Elena Ferrante  Alessandra has always wanted more than life offered her. Growing up in a crowded apartment block in 1930s Rome, she watches as her mother's dreams of becoming a concert pianist are stifled by an unsatisfying marriage. When her father's traditional family try to make Alessandra marry at a young age, she rebels against the future they imagine for her.   Soon she falls passionately in love with Francesco, an anti-fascist professor, and a new world seems to open up. Working for the underground resistance, she tastes the independence that she has yearned for. But what will it take for her to break free from society's expectations, and live on her own terms?  Drawing on Alba de Céspedes's own experiences in Italy's wartime uprising, Her Side of the Story is a feminist chronicle of fierce and unforgettable power.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49746452971793,"sku":"NGR9781782277583","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50131660112145,"sku":"GOR013585762","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50459194261777,"sku":"GOR013959862","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52720027074833,"sku":"GOR014597229","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1782277587.jpg?v=1777628521"},{"product_id":"forbidden-notebook-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781782278221","title":"Forbidden Notebook","description":"Out running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, the constant churn of the domestic routine and her fears that her husband will discover her new habit. With each entry Valeria plunges deeper into her interior life, uncovering profound dissatisfaction and restlessness. As she finds her own voice, the roles that have come to define her-as wife, as mother, as daughter-begin to break apart.  Forbidden Notebook is a rediscovered jewel of Italian literature, published here in a new translation by the celebrated Ann Goldstein and with a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri. A captivating feminist classic, it is an intimate, haunting story of domestic discontent in postwar Rome, and of one woman's awakening to her true thoughts and desires.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49746541576465,"sku":"NGR9781782278221","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49879430070545,"sku":"GOR013666167","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50280693432593,"sku":"GOR013911029","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50335309529361,"sku":"GOR013932247","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50885958598929,"sku":"GOR014104521","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51848461386001,"sku":"CIN1782278222G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52705694253329,"sku":"CIN1782278222A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53157996036369,"sku":"CIN1782278222VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1782278222.jpg?v=1777629608"},{"product_id":"her-side-of-the-story-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781662601439","title":"Her Side of the Story","description":"\u003cb\u003eA courageous novel, beautifully imagined and written. \u003cbr\u003e--Elena Lappin, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDe Cespedes' work has lost none of its subversive force\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e--The New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e* De C spedes's melancholy testament to a hidden life feels timeless and vital.\u003cbr\u003e --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (Starred Review) \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e, Alba de C spedes, a richly told novel she called the story of a great love and of a crime. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs she looks back on her life, Alessandra Corteggiani recalls her youth during the rise of fascism in Italy, the resistance, and the fall of Mussolini, the lives of the women in her family and her working-class neighborhood, rigorously committed to telling her side of the story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlessandra witnesses her mother, an aspiring concert pianist, suffer from the inability to escape her oppressive marriage. Later, she is sent away to live with her father's relatives in the country, in the hope she'll finally learn to submit herself to the patriarchal system and authority. But at the farm, Alessandra grows increasingly rebellious, conscious of the unjust treatment of generations of hardworking women in her family. When she refuses the marriage proposal from a neighboring farmer, she is sent back to Rome to tend to her ailing father. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn Rome, Alessandra meets Francesco, a charismatic anti-fascist professor, who ostensibly admires and supports her sense of independence and justice. But she soon comes to recognize that even as she respects Francesco and is keen to participate in his struggle to reclaim their country from fascism, this respect is unrequited, and that her own beloved husband is ensnared by patriarchal conventions when it comes to their relationship. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn these pages, De C spedes delivers a breathtakingly accurate and timeless portrayal of the complexity of the female condition against the dramatic backdrop of WWII and the partisan uprising in Italy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49788453617937,"sku":"CIN1662601433G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51044698652945,"sku":"NIN9781662601439","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51254617243921,"sku":"GOR013423307","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1662601433.jpg?v=1750896577"},{"product_id":"forbidden-notebook-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781662601392","title":"Forbidden Notebook","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003ePowerful. --\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrilliant. --\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eAstounding. \u003ci\u003e--NPR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eForceful, clear and morally engaged. --\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSubversive. --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e An exquisite, tormented howl. --\u003ci\u003eThe Financial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Gripping. --\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkable story. \u003ci\u003e--Publisher's Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWrenching, sardonic. \u003ci\u003e--Kirkus (\u003c\/i\u003estarred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs relevant today as it was in postwar Italy. --\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eis a classic domestic novel by the Italian-Cuban feminist writer Alba de C spedes, whose work inspired contemporary writers like Elena Ferrante.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this modern translation by acclaimed Elena Ferrante translator Ann Goldstein, \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e centers the inner life of a dissatisfied housewife living in postwar Rome. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eValeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life--until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son. As the conflicts between parents and children, husband and wife, and friends and lovers intensify, what goes on behind the Cossatis' facade of middle-class respectability gradually comes to light, tearing the family's fragile fabric apart. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn exquisitely crafted portrayal of domestic life, \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e recognizes the universality of human aspirations.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49901871595793,"sku":"CIN1662601395VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49940832813329,"sku":"CIN1662601395G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50119239205137,"sku":"GOR013861758","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51044752851217,"sku":"NIN9781662601392","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1662601395.jpg?v=1751057320"},{"product_id":"forbidden-notebook-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781662602689","title":"Forbidden Notebook","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePowerful. --\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrilliant. --\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAstounding. --\u003ci\u003eNPR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForceful, clear and morally engaged. --\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSubversive. --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn exquisite, tormented howl. --\u003ci\u003eThe Financial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eQuick, propulsive, and addictive. --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGripping. --\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA remarkable story. --\u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003eWrenching, sardonic. --\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003eAs relevant today as it was in postwar Italy. --\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri, \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e is a classic domestic novel by the Italian-Cuban feminist writer Alba de C spedes, whose work inspired contemporary writers like Elena Ferrante. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this modern translation by acclaimed Elena Ferrante translator Ann Goldstein, \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e centers the inner life of a dissatisfied housewife living in postwar Rome. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eValeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life--until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son. As the conflicts between parents and children, husband and wife, and friends and lovers intensify, what goes on behind the Cossatis' facade of middle-class respectability gradually comes to light, tearing the family's fragile fabric apart. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn exquisitely crafted portrayal of domestic life, \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e recognizes the universality of human aspirations.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50629172625681,"sku":"CIN1662602685VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50981670551825,"sku":"CIN1662602685G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51044574134545,"sku":"NIN9781662602689","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1662602685.jpg?v=1750864226"},{"product_id":"there-s-no-turning-back-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781805331124","title":"There's No Turning Back","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA stunningly powerful novel of a group of young women coming of age in 1930s Rome, from the celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe young women studying at the Grimaldi yearn for new kinds of life. Monitored by the nuns who run the college, eight of them form a close group, sharing confidences and hopes for the future. But each, too, has her private secrets - a child from an early love affair, frustrated artistic ambitions, burning desires and petty jealousies. With the passing months, their paths begin to diverge, as each woman struggles towards her own idea of freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA virtuosic group portrait, \u003ci\u003eThere's No Turning Back\u003c\/i\u003e broke radical new ground in representing modern women's lives when it first appeared in 1938, facing immediate censorship by the Fascist authorities. Published in a new translation by the acclaimed Ann Goldstein, it is a powerfully moving story of women coming of age in a turbulent world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50985981378833,"sku":"NGR9781805331124","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51071452774673,"sku":"GOR014169164","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51183665938705,"sku":"GOR014194138","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1805331124.jpg?v=1777629142"},{"product_id":"her-side-of-the-story-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781782278238","title":"Her Side of the Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A revolutionary thriller, bildungsroman and cry of feminist frustration... Actual-work-of-genius territory' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA captivating feminist classic about a woman's struggle for independence in fascist Italy, from the author of \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e  - with an afterword by Elena Ferrante\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlessandra has always wanted more than life offered her. Growing up in a crowded apartment block in 1930s Rome, she watches as her mother's dreams of becoming a concert pianist are stifled by marriage. When her father's traditional family try to make Alessandra marry at a young age, she rebels against the future they imagine for her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoon she falls passionately in love with Francesco, an anti-fascist professor, and a new world seems to open up. Working for the underground resistance, she tastes the independence that she has yearned for. What will it take for her to break free from society's expectations, and live on her own terms?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on Alba de Céspedes's own experiences during Italy's wartime uprising, Her Side of the Story is a feminist chronicle of fierce and unforgettable power.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50993261674769,"sku":"NGR9781782278238","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51361663910161,"sku":"GOR014239921","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52530779521297,"sku":"GOR014551297","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52867015016721,"sku":"GOR014649574","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1782278230.jpg?v=1759229194"},{"product_id":"el-cuaderno-prohibido-book-alba-de-cspedes-9786070796999","title":"El Cuaderno Prohibido","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51063492477201,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51063495983377,"sku":"NIN9786070796999","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/6070796993.jpg?v=1750871437"},{"product_id":"there-s-no-turning-back-book-alba-de-cspedes-9781805331148","title":"There's No Turning Back","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA stunningly powerful novel of a group of young women coming of age in 1930s Rome, from the celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eForbidden Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe young women studying at the Grimaldi yearn for new kinds of life. Monitored by the nuns who run the college, eight of them form a close group, sharing confidences and hopes for the future. But each, too, has her private secrets - a child from an early love affair, frustrated artistic ambitions, burning desires and petty jealousies. With the passing months, their paths begin to diverge, as each woman struggles towards her own idea of freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA virtuosic group portrait, \u003ci\u003eThere's No Turning Back\u003c\/i\u003e broke radical new ground in representing modern women's lives when it first appeared in 1938, facing immediate censorship by the Fascist authorities. Published in a new translation by the acclaimed Ann Goldstein, it is a powerfully moving story of women coming of age in a turbulent world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52496982868241,"sku":"NGR9781805331148","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53688027545873,"sku":"GOR015003380","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781805331148.jpg?v=1777629228"},{"product_id":"nessuno-torna-indietro-book-alba-de-cspedes-9788804746881","title":"NESSUNO TORNA INDIETRO","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53058554200337,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53058554233105,"sku":"GOR014719972","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9788804746881.jpg?v=1769189456"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-alba-de-cspedes.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}