The Art of Joy
Publisher
:
Viviane Hamy
Parution date
:
2005
EAN
:
9782878582154
Number of pages
:
636
Description
• A best-selling novel in France, with more than 150,000 copies sold
• Rights sold to Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Greece
• Film rights sold to Catleya Productions in association with TF1 International
An unquestionable discovery, a phenomenal skimming of the political, moral and social history of Italy, under the watchful eye of a marvelous Sicilian narrator with her sometimes rational and sometimes passionate impulses. It’s the discovery of an exceptional writer.
—Le Monde
Modesta, the Sicilian heroin of Sapienza’s stunning rediscovered novel, was born at the very beginning of the twentieth century into extreme poverty. Her mother’s affection and attention turn to her younger sister, who has Down’s syndrome. Modesta’s childhood does not last long; by the age of 10, she has been raped and has lost what family she had in a fire she deliberately started in their home. She is sent to a convent, where, in addition to receiving an education, she draws the attention of Mother Leonora and becomes her protégé.
But happiness is short-lived for the young girl. After Mother Leonora’s death, she is forced to leave the convent and become a maid in a wealthy aristocratic family. Despite an inauspicious beginning for her there, her status in the family evolves over time, and she marries the retarded son and heir. Now a member of society, Modesta nonetheless maintains a fierce independence and carves out a life for herself that is way ahead of her time. Thirsty for adventure and freedom, she embarks on an affair and gives birth to an illegitimate child. Still thirsty for more than her bourgeois life, she engages in sexual experimentation and gives shelter to the poor and persecuted against the background of World War II and the rise of fascism.
Author
Goliarda Sapienza : Goliarda Sapienza was born in Sicily in 1924 into a socialist-anarchist family. At the age of 16, she enrolled in the Academy of Arts in Rome and worked with directors such as Luchino Visconti. L’Art de la joie was published in its entirety in 1998, 20 years after the manuscript was completed. Indeed, the book was rejected by most publishers, and Sapienza decided to put it aside to pursue other writing projects. She died in 1996, never having had the chance to see the publication of her novel, a brilliant and shocking saga often compared with Lampudesa’s The Leopard.
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