Fausta Cialente

'Cause for celebration.' — Jhumpa Lahiri A novel of secrets and female solidarity set in post-war Milan, by one of Italy's most significant women writers. Fausta Cialente (1898–1994) was a novelist, journalist, political activist, and one of the first self-declared feminist Italian writers. Though the fascists censored her early work, she continued as an active member in the anti-fascist movement...

A Very Cold Winter is a novel of secrets and female solidarity set in post-war Milan, by one of Italy’s most significant women writers. Translated by Julia Nelsen. It is 1946 and Milan is in ruins. Camilla opens her illegally occupied attic to her extended family as they rebuild their lives among the rubble. The absence of men—lost to war,...