Dacia Maraini is an Italian writer. She is the daughter of Sicilian Princess Topazia Alliata di Salaparuta, an artist and art dealer, and of Fosco Maraini, a Florentine ethnologist and mountaineer of mixed Ticinese, English and Polish background who wrote in particular on Tibet and Japan. Maraini's work focuses on women’s issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels.
Alberto Moravia was her partner from 1962 until 1983.
Beautifully written. I love the epistolary form and Dacia is a master in this form of writing. I am not sure I want Bianca to see Marina again but I do want her at the end to send those letters. Her kinship with other women is admirable especially as in some novels we see rivalry. I wonder whether something will ever "happen" between her and her neighbour with whom she has become very close. Two women, two totally different lives yet they're very good friends. Each character can have her own or his own story. There are stories within this story. There are sensual scenes and thought-provoking passages. A hard-to-put-down book.