The Silent Duchess [Paperback]

Dacia Maraini (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Feminist Press; First U. S. Edition edition (1998)
• ASIN: B000INF03Q
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a rich, beautiful, original novel, November 29, 1998

By 

Indienne - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Silent Duchess (Hardcover)

Dacia Maraini is celebrated in italy, where her books are bestsellers and win important prizes, but she hasn't yet caught on in the United States, where translated fiction gets slighted and there's room for only two or three writers from each foreign country. I hope the Silent Duchess changes that. It's an extraordinary book -- a historical novel set in 18th century Sicily, whose heroine, Marianna Ucria, the deaf and dumb aristocrat of the title, manages, in small and subtle ways, to become an independent spirit despite a forced marriage to her uncle at age 13. The writing is piquant and evocative-- Sicily has never seemed so intense and alive--sights, smells, food). This is a book with everything you'd find in a historical potboiler-- sex, love, violence, family, incest, spectacle, tragedy. But it's a serious word of art, moving, sensuous, thought-provoking. One of the best novels I've read all year!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maraini's Silent Duchess sank deep into my subconcious mind, October 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent Duchess (Hardcover)

I was attracted by the romantic presentation of eighteenth century life in Sicily, reminiscent of The Leopard.......however this leopardess has her own den. I'm still sorting the pieces of what could have been a pot-boiler with the nuances which made this book cling to me. In very small experiences akin to the heroine, I have spent some days in silence and am astounded at the view I have of my world and my colleagues. As was depicted by Maraini, people filled in the blanks for the Duchess (or for me) without considering or verifying assent or denial. As the story forms and is given to us (that is my description of the subtle powers of the author), the Duchess changes. We are almost not aware, and then we see that that was the story all along. Change isn't the right word, that's too dramatic. It's more like she 'comes to be'. The unpackaged ending is so hopeful, and so unconstrained. I'm tired of being told what I should be, in life and in print. I'm already an overachiever with freedoms Mariana never dreamed of. Oh, thank you Dacia. I'm going back for more.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a silent little gem, October 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent Duchess (FP Classics) (Paperback)

I had to read this book for a literature class, and I completely adored it. If you know even a little bit about the social situation of women in the 18th century, you'll soon understand what a remarkable character the Duchess Marianna Ucria is. Although I had figured out, really early into the novel what the 'childhood trauma' was, I was pleased to see that it wasn't a book about coming to terms with trauma (yawn, yawn). Instead The Silent Duchess is more a novel about silences, both physical and metaphorical, it gives a voice to women who have been ignored by both society and history.

Dacia Maraini has created a gem of a book, which deal with many women's issues, some of which still exist today, but does so in a way that's not off-putting. Thought provoking, not boring.