Book Description
Reimagining the life of Italian poet Gabriela D'Annuzio, this play draws on D'Annuzio's beautifully crafted love letters to recreate a hidden family drama between mother and daughter. D'Annuzio, who achieved early fame in Italy for his rich and sensuous poems, has been reviled in the years since World War II for his allegiance with Mussolini and Fascism. As famous for his decadent lifestyle and radical political views as for his poetry, this work finds inspiration in D'Annuzio's rich inner life.
From the Author
"Love Letters was born from the reexamination of a poet wildly adored in the first half of the twentieth century and then reviled with equal passion in the second half. I reread his great novels but especially his poetry, rich with extraordinary sounds. I hand in hand many of his personal letters which remain unedited because the many women D'Annunzio loved kept them jealously for themselves. In my drama, D'Annunzio's love letters become the dark spirit of a thorny relationship between a mother and daughter. The reading of them provokes a confrontation between a living woman and a dead one." Dacia Maraini
