Maria Zef / Paola Drigo ; translated and with an introduction by Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Drigo, Paola, 1876-1938.

Series:

European women writers series

European women writers series.

Standardized Title:

Maria Zef. English

Language:

English

Italian

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xiv, 182 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [1989]

Summary:

"Maria Zef" was considered the farthest limit of verismo in contemporary Italian literature when it was first published in 1936. Like the great films to come after the war, "Shoeshine" and "The Bicycle Thief," Paola Drigo's gritty novel portrays the struggle to come of age or even survive in a harsh environment. But its setting is more rural and its protagonist is a young girl whose voice will now be heard around the world in this English translation by Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum.

Born in the medieval town of Castelfranco in the Vené to, Paola Drigo (1879- 1938) wrote frankly about the poor and brutal lives of toilers in preindustrial northern Italy. "Maria Zef," her masterpiece, focuses on the orphaned Maria, who assumes responsibilities beyond her years in protecting her baby sister and staying alive. Poverty, toil, illness, solitude, and abuse contribute to one of the most horrifying climaxes in modern fiction.

Notes:

Translated from the Italian.

Translation of: Maria Zef.

ISBN:

0803216769

0803265778

OCLC:

18778907