Women of Shadows: A Study of the Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy [Mass Market Paperback]

Ann Cornelisen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

WITH HAUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS and piercing descriptions, Women of the Shadows depicts the secluded women of southern Italy and their passionate, painful, heartrending existence. Cornelisen, who lived among these women in the mountainous villages of Lucania after World War II, reveals their struggles during a time when most of their men had to leave for factories in the industrial north. The women remained behind to work the fields. There's Peppina, Ninetta, Teresa, Maria, Pinuccia, and Cettina, all women who "have done things of which they are not proud; they know it in their hearts, as one woman said, that nothing is private, they would also agree with her conclusion: That doesn't mean you get used to it." With an extraordinary understanding of the interior lives of these and other women, Cornelisen brings them out of the shadows to tell their heroic stories in a book which truly merits the label "classic." Library Journal deemed it "required reading for all those whose work is with poor people," and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "one of those rare works that deserves a place alongside Oscar Lewis's Children of Sanchez and James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." A new introduction by the author suggests that the more things change, the more, in essence, they remain the same.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Italy of most foreigners' imaginations centers on pastoral vineyards or the glamor of Rome, but there is another part to Italy - the South - a "bleak land and dour people who see no joy in this life, but only an eternal struggle they cannot quite win." Ann Cornelisen arrived in 1954 to study archaeology; she ended up spending ten years establishing nurseries in poverty-stricken villages in Southern Italy. "Regret[ting] my own intrusion as a filter," she wanted to record the lives of the women she met because "before they disappear to become the ghostly shadows behind a myth, I think they should have their say." Women of the Shadows focuses on the lives of five women, describing their lives of endless work, frustration, anger, and pain. Husbands who can find no work locally leave for Germany and return once or twice a year. Their wives stay home and "do whatever else no one has done. That's what we're taught; that's what we're supposed to do. Men work and talk about politics. We do the rest." Out of horrendous conditions emerge women of amazing strength and resourcefulness, who are capable of supporting nine children, living in a one room house without light or water, or finessing their way through government regulations to gain a job or a hospital operation. With clear-sighted sympathy, Ann Cornelisen portrays these women and their impoverished land. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister

About the Author

ANN CORNELISEN is the author of four other books, including Torregreca and Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy. In 1974 she received a special award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. After spending decades in southern Italy, she now lives in the United States, in Georgia. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140147853
• ISBN-13: 978-0140147858
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,020,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glimpses of Southern Italian Women in the 60's and 70's, November 5, 2002

By 

Maddalena "la_maddalena" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of Shadows: A Study of the Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy (Mass Market Paperback)

Well written biographies of a handful of women. Noble,
tragic, clever, wise. What an eye opener this book is!
I recommend it to anyone trying to understand Italy