{"product_id":"forbidden-notebook-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\u003e\"Powerful.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brilliant.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Astounding.\" --\u003ci\u003eNPR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Forceful, clear and morally engaged.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Subversive.\" --\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\"Quick, propulsive, and addictive.\" --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gripping.\" --\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A remarkable story.\" --\u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\"Wrenching, sardonic.\" --\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\"As 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlba de C?spedes (1911-1997) was a bestselling Italian-Cuban feminist writer greatly influenced by the cultural developments that led to and resulted from World War II. In 1935, she was jailed for her anti-fascist activities in Italy. Two of her novels were also banned--\u003ci\u003eNessuno Torna Indietro \u003c\/i\u003e(1938) and \u003ci\u003eLa Fuga\u003c\/i\u003e (1940). In 1943, she was again imprisoned for her assistance with Radio Partigiana in Bari, where she was a Resistance radio personality known as Clorinda. After the war, she moved to Paris, where she lived until her death in 1997.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Astra House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50895681356050,"sku":"9781662602689","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_006dacbd-c8c7-42b0-b046-8481a748b034.jpg?v=1738275499","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/forbidden-notebook-9781662602689","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}