Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy

by Ann Cornelisen

NOVEL ON ANY FOUR WOMEN COULD ROB THE BANK OF ITALY

Genres: Italy, Fiction

291 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1984

About the author

Ann Cornelisen is best known as the author of several books detailing the landscape and culture of southern Italy. She first went to Italy in 1954 with plans of studying archaeology in Rome. However, after meeting Giovanna "Gianna" Thompson, a representative of the British Save the Children Fund, the course of her life was forever changed. She traveled with Gianna to many small, impoverished towns in central and southern Italy documenting her experiences in her journals, letters home, and on film. She eventually made Ortona in the Abruzzo region her permanent home, but spent much of her time studying the town of Tricarico in Basilicata, which was the focus of her first book, Torregreca. Cornelisen spent the rest of her professional career in Italy and published three more nonfiction books about the country as well as two novels.

(from http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/...)

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two women, screenwriters, come up with this idea that "any four women could rob the Bank of Italy" because women are virtually invisible in Italy. In developing the idea, they shift it to a train robbery, flesh out the details and before long they are acting out their drama. It's a caper worthy of the screen, and I wish a movie would be made of it. Small town in Tuscany, locals and Americans and Brits. A bit of slapstick and Bob's your uncle. Sandra Bullock, this one is for you.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first time Reading this author. Are all of Cornelison’s books so wordy?

I wondered if the author had been pulling my leg all along as I slogged through a million Of her words when 3 or 4 would have sufficed. On page 223 she writes:”...a flash of intuition, which produced an avalanche of details their listeners did not need.” Aha! This is the exact problem with the book!

I loved the premise but the pretentious slips into Italian and French languages made for an unsatisfying read as I was brought up short Each time this occurred, not comprehending these phrases and not willing to google A translation.

And when the author describes El and her friend cleaning up El’s library and all the literary references, this just seemed liked too much braggadocio.

It could have been delightful, and some have suggested it would be a good film. I agree to this only if the dialogue is not as wordy as this book.

Oh, and it was 5 or 6 women, not 4.

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are hoping to catch a full blown case of narcolepsy, this book is for you! The premise is a great idea for a story--women could rob a bank in Italy and never be suspected because women are invisible there--but the author's writing style is atrocious. I think she was trying to be precious but it lost me along the way. It sounded like there were really 5 women involved and I couldn't tell you who was who if you held a gun to my head. I couldn't understand why they, El mostly seemed insistent on talking about the robbery and details at every drop of a hat. Did she want to get caught? Did she get caught? I hope they did and that the whole lot of them got the death penalty, including the author.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF-This book is so incredibly hard to read I just gave up. I did want to find out the ending but it's just not worth it. I chose this book because of the title but come to find out it should say six women, I believe, not four. Also, there were too many characters and they were not always properly identified or with too little description that it was hard to remember who was who. There were several questions as well that were never answered. The writing was confusing. You didn't always know who was talking and sentences were so choppy with insufficient information that you had to keep rereading, trying to figure out what is going on. The premise is good but in need of a much better execution.

[Rosemary Legge · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could have been a light, funny, and intriguing book quickly became a confusing, jumbled, and hard to read story. Too many characters with too many side plots, too many descriptors of unneeded people, places, and things that completely detracted from the main storyline. I almost gave up and put it down for several days at a time but came back to it just to see if the ending was any better. It was not.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry - couldn't get through it. It is a flashback to a robbery committed by local expats. Her arch, almost coy, way of writing was really irritating despite the verisimilitude of all the details she adds in. The whole thing made me dislike Italy when I have really enjoyed my visits there. It also made me dislike the expats who live there!

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only excuse I have for spending my time reading this was that I took it to hospital as an undemanding read while I waited my turn for the knife. By the time they wheeled me in, I was glad to see the back of it.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, the best thing this book has going for it is its title.

[Gerrigray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise is great. The writing not so much. The big question...if you commit the perfect crime what happens when friend is arrested a charged with your crime?

[Anna Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann Cornelisen lived and worked in Italy during the second half of the 20th century, and was both a keen observer of local social norms, and often the subject of mistrust and misogyny. She wrote several non-fiction books on the hardships of life for women in rural Italy in the decades after WWII, where she worked for years to set up nursery centers under the auspices of the British Save the Children Fund. Any Four Women, her only novel, seems to be a kind of release for the humor she found in her situation as a foreigner and the cultural oddities that, to a foreigner, seem glaringly obvious. Her biggest target is contemporary Italian society's view of women- or, rather, their blind spots and how they could be exploited. The robbery, which happens in the first few pages, started as a humorous script written by two Anglophone ex-pats....but quickly became a successful heist carried out by a group of British and American women just to see if they could do it. Neither a who-dunnit or how-dunnit, the rest of the novel is a 'what happens when you get away with it and then want to undo it?' I enjoyed the vibrant characters and bone-dry wit employed to describe the courteous officials who couldn't see what was right in front of their faces. The final twist was satisfying and somewhat unexpected. If you like social satire and intellectual puzzles with a strong dose of feminism, search out a copy at a used bookstore.

[Gabrielle Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Not too serious.

[Janice Heck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four expat American and English women, living in Tuscany, Italy, collaborate on writing a screenplay about a train robbery. But when they decide to take action on their musings, the hilarity begins.

Since women are considered innocent of notorious crimes (except for crimes of passion), the four watch in amusement as the police search for Italian macho men with dubious reputations.

Will these clever women get caught? Not telling.

This is a hilarious book. It is an oldie (1983) but a goodie.

[AS · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted so much to like this book, but I could not follow it at all! Way too many characters to keep track of them, and they're all so thinly described, that I didn't really care about any of them. The story line is incredibly hard to follow. I could barely tell what was happening from one moment to the next. Awful! I would really like to know how anyone could make heads or tails of it. I sure couldn't, and I felt dumb trying.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read at the beach.

[Eilonwy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars, really. A very fun read.

[Mary B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish this book either - - I seem to be flaking out on books!