Anna Banti

"Greatly influenced by writers ranging from Dickens and Proust to Woolf and Colette, Anna Banti was a prominent figure on the Italian literary scene from the 1940s until her death in 1985. The five tales in "The Signorina" and Other Stories display her talent across many genres - fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, mystery.". "Banti's stories portray the ageless conflict between the expectations of society and the aspirations of the individual. In "Uncertain Vocations," the young Ofelia becomes a pianist after her marriage prospects fail, but self-doubt turns her success into miserable mediocrity. In the futuristic "The Women Are Dying," men acquire a new evolutionary ability; women, lacking that ability, are consigned to the status of an inferior race. "Joveta of Betania," set in the time of the Crusades, follows the daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem as she escapes to a life of seclusion as an abbess - a life that becomes for her a source of proud freedom and deep bitterness. In "The Sailing Ships," a young boy creates an imaginary world from an uncertain childhood memory. "The Signorina" tells of a young woman who eventually finds herself, as a writer."--BOOK JACKET.

A Piercing Cry, along with Artemisia, is a novel of female development. The question "who am I?," posed in Anna Banti's first novel Itinerario di Paolina, comes full circle in this, her final testimonial work. The central dilemma faced by the protagonist is also mirrored in the author's own life: whether her true vocation was as an art historian or as a writer of fiction. By revisiting the crucial events of her past, Agnese Lanzi dismantles all her certainties and questions the true value of her achievements. This largely autobiographical work, which comes at the end of Banti's career, is a story of both love and renunciation. The high value placed on art resonates throughout the novel. A Piercing Cry is a journey of self-discovery for a woman who boldly confesses her most cherished ambitions and most intimate compromises. Banti leads the reader along a hazardous yet illuminating path of emotional struggle and personal triumph.

"Born to the artist Orazio Gentileschi at the beginning of the 1600s, when artists were the celebrities of the day, Artemisia was apprenticed to her father at an early age. She showed such remarkable talent that he came to view her as the most precious thing he owned. But at the age of seventeen Artemisia was raped by her father's best friend and partner, Agostino Tassi. Soon the Gentileschi name was being dragged through scandal, for Artemisia refused, even when tortured, to deny that she had been raped. Indeed, she went farther: she dared to plead her case in court. For eight months all of Rome was riveted by the trial. Artemisia won the case, but in return she was ostracized from Rome and from her father.". "This is a story of the love-hate relationship between master and pupil, father and daughter, at a time when daughters belonged to their fathers and had no legal rights. Artemisia's talent was such that she overturned the prejudices of her time, winning the admiration of wealthy patrons, kings, and queens."--BOOK JACKET.