Forbidden Notebook cover art

Forbidden Notebook

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Forbidden Notebook

By: Alba de Céspedes
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Jhumpa Lahiri
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About this listen

Out running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, the constant churn of the domestic routine and her fears that her husband will discover her new habit. With each entry Valeria plunges deeper into her interior life, uncovering profound dissatisfaction and restlessness. As she finds her own voice, the roles that have come to define her-as wife, as mother, as daughter-begin to break apart.

Forbidden Notebook is a rediscovered jewel of Italian literature, published here in a new translation by the celebrated Ann Goldstein and with a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri. A captivating feminist classic, it is an intimate, haunting story of domestic discontent in postwar Rome, and of one woman's awakening to her true thoughts and desires.

©2023 Pushkin Press (P)2023 Pushkin Press Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Marriage Rome Italy

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All stars
Most relevant  
I loved the book/story. Constantly had to remind myself that it was a different era and culture.

fascinating story of a different time

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The novel, and the performance, evoke time and place beautifully. Valeria is a rich, complex character, and the ‘diary’ allows us to listen and imagine.

Excellent

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A great book, very thought provoking about the life of Italian women and women today .

It’s a fascinating book of its time for an Italian

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Although written over 70 years ago & set in a time and culture very different from mine, Valeria's reflections, internal conversations & conflicts for me reflected those of myself as a wife and mother. Interesting look at how changes over the generations have some impact but some things do not seem to shift.

A woman of her time and all times

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