THE WOMEN OF MAGLIANO

by Mario Tobino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 1954

In translation from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun, this doctor's notebook of the day to day events within a woman's asylum is more fact than fiction (Tobino was in charge of one just such as this) but the realism here is tempered by lyricism, by a sense of the sadness of the sickness in this derelict, desolate world, and by spiritual faith. Here, at Lucca, there are 1,039 lunatics, 200 attendants, 19 nuns, and one doctor- and as he makes his rounds of the wards you will meet Berlucchi, who stabs herself with a knitting needle and grazes her heart; the beautiful Belaglia, only 17, who believes that she is dying; Signora Alfonsa, with her passing phases of melancholia; the epileptic Soldani and the erotic Maresca; etc. etc. -- and the whole range of imbalance from shameless sensuality to frenzy to despair is transcribed with precision, and always with compassion. Limited, nonetheless.

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION