Addressing the Letter: Italian Women Writers' Epistolary Fiction

‘In this fascinating book Salsini shows the multiple ways in which Italian women writers challenged social and literary conventions “to find a voice, a sense of identity, and to create an alternative to the male constructed national cannon”. This is the first study to systematically analyze the crossroads of genre and content of this cohort of Italian women writers.’ Sonia Cancian, Quaderni D’Italianistica vol 31:02:10

‘Thoughtful and engaging book… The open form of the letter novel and the strategic transformation of an apparently regressive genre leave space for the reader actively to engage both in the construction of a narrative and in the critique of the societies in which women live.’

Sharon Wood, Modern Language Review, vol 108:04:2013

'Addressing the Letter is a timely and original project. By analyzing and contextualizing the work of major nineteenth- and twentieth-century Italian writers within the wider production of European epistolary fiction, Laura Salsini demonstrates the significant role played by this genre in Italian literature.' Gabriella Romani, Department of Modern Languages, Seton Hall University