Maria Zef
Maria Zef was considered the farthest limit of verismo in contemporary Italian literature when it was first published in 1936. Like the great films to come after the war, Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief, Paola Drigo's gritty novel portrays the struggle to come of age or even survive in a harsh environment. But its setting is more rural and its protagonist is a young girl whose voice will now be heard around the world in this English translation by Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum.

Born in the medieval town of Castelfranco in the Venéto, Paola Drigo (1879-1938) wrote frankly about the poor and brutal lives of toilers in preindustrial northern Italy. Maria Zef, her masterpiece, focuses on the orphaned Maria, who assumes responsibilities beyond her years in protecting her baby sister and staying alive. Poverty, toil, illness, solitude, and abuse contribute to one of the most horrifying climaxes in modern fiction.

Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University. She has also translated Giuliana Morandini's novel I cristaili di Vienna, issued as Bloodstains in 1987, and stories by Grazia Deledda, Marina Mizzau, and Fernanda Pivano.
"1102476083"
Maria Zef
Maria Zef was considered the farthest limit of verismo in contemporary Italian literature when it was first published in 1936. Like the great films to come after the war, Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief, Paola Drigo's gritty novel portrays the struggle to come of age or even survive in a harsh environment. But its setting is more rural and its protagonist is a young girl whose voice will now be heard around the world in this English translation by Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum.

Born in the medieval town of Castelfranco in the Venéto, Paola Drigo (1879-1938) wrote frankly about the poor and brutal lives of toilers in preindustrial northern Italy. Maria Zef, her masterpiece, focuses on the orphaned Maria, who assumes responsibilities beyond her years in protecting her baby sister and staying alive. Poverty, toil, illness, solitude, and abuse contribute to one of the most horrifying climaxes in modern fiction.

Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University. She has also translated Giuliana Morandini's novel I cristaili di Vienna, issued as Bloodstains in 1987, and stories by Grazia Deledda, Marina Mizzau, and Fernanda Pivano.
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Overview

Maria Zef was considered the farthest limit of verismo in contemporary Italian literature when it was first published in 1936. Like the great films to come after the war, Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief, Paola Drigo's gritty novel portrays the struggle to come of age or even survive in a harsh environment. But its setting is more rural and its protagonist is a young girl whose voice will now be heard around the world in this English translation by Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum.

Born in the medieval town of Castelfranco in the Venéto, Paola Drigo (1879-1938) wrote frankly about the poor and brutal lives of toilers in preindustrial northern Italy. Maria Zef, her masterpiece, focuses on the orphaned Maria, who assumes responsibilities beyond her years in protecting her baby sister and staying alive. Poverty, toil, illness, solitude, and abuse contribute to one of the most horrifying climaxes in modern fiction.

Blossom Steinberg Kirschenbaum is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University. She has also translated Giuliana Morandini's novel I cristaili di Vienna, issued as Bloodstains in 1987, and stories by Grazia Deledda, Marina Mizzau, and Fernanda Pivano.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803265776
Publisher: Nebraska Paperback
Publication date: 09/01/1989
Series: European Women Writers Series
Pages: 182
Product dimensions: 4.62(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paola Drigo published her first collection of stories, La fortuna, in 1913. Her work later appeared in numerous publications, including Nuova Antologia, L’Illustrazione italiana, and Il Corriere della Sera. Her other works include La signorina Anna and Fine d’anno.
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