The Silent Duchess

by Dacia Maraini

Book Overview

An international bestseller from Italy's foremost woman writer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155861222X
• ISBN13: 9781558612228
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Feminist Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

fascinating book

The correct title is La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa.Wonderfully written, great atmosphere, deep sensibility of the author toward feelings and perceptions of a deaf and mute noble woman living in Sicily more than two centuries ago. A great story. Dacia Maraini at her best. Interesting adaptaton into film.

fascinating novel

the correct title is Marianna Ucrìa. wonderfully written, great atmosphere, deep sensibility of the author towards the intimate perceptions and feelings of a deaf and mute noble sicilian woman living more two century ago. A great story. Dacia Maraini at her best.

a silent little gem

I had to read this book for a literature class, and I completely adored it. If you know even a little bit about the social situation of women in the 18th century, you'll soon understand what a remarkable character the Duchess Marianna Ucria is. Although I had figured out, really early into the novel what the 'childhood trauma' was, I was pleased to see that it wasn't a book about coming to terms with trauma (yawn, yawn). Instead The Silent Duchess is more a novel about silences, both physical and metaphorical, it gives a voice to women who have been ignored by both society and history.Dacia Maraini has created a gem of a book, which deal with many women's issues, some of which still exist today, but does so in a way that's not off-putting. Thought provoking, not boring.

A very original , totally ingrossing book

I have read other very interesting books of Dacia Maraini, an Italian writer who deserves to be much better known in the US. This novel may be my favorite among her works. One becomes attached to the heroine as she develops over the years. The story is at times tragic, funny, touching. By the way, the villa described still exists in Bagheria (Sicily). Read it!

This is a rich, beautiful, original novel

Dacia Maraini is celebrated in italy, where her books are bestsellers and win important prizes, but she hasn't yet caught on in the United States, where translated fiction gets slighted and there's room for only two or three writers from each foreign country. I hope the Silent Duchess changes that. It's an extraordinary book -- a historical novel set in 18th century Sicily, whose heroine, Marianna Ucria, the deaf and dumb aristocrat of the title, manages, in small and subtle ways, to become an independent spirit despite a forced marriage to her uncle at age 13. The writing is piquant and evocative-- Sicily has never seemed so intense and alive--sights, smells, food). This is a book with everything you'd find in a historical potboiler-- sex, love, violence, family, incest, spectacle, tragedy. But it's a serious word of art, moving, sensuous, thought-provoking. One of the best novels I've read all year!