Nobel 1926: Grazia Deledda
Corvus Chaos ~ Corvus Chaos
Grazia Deledda is the third author in my "read lots of Nobel Prize winners" project. She was the second woman to win the prize for literature and the second winner from Italy. I read two of Deledda's books: Reeds in the Wind, translated by Martha King, and The Church of Solitude, translated by E. Ann…
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Femina Studet
Grazia Deledda is the third author in my “read lots of Nobel Prize winners” project. She was the second woman to win the prize for literature and the second winner from Italy. I read two of Deledda’s books: Reeds in the Wind, translated by Martha King, and The Church of Solitude, translated by E. Ann Matter.

Deledda was a prolific and popular writer in her day, but very few of her novels have English translations and except for Nobel lists she seems largely forgotten today. Born and raised in a traditional Sardinian town, Deledda’s family wasn’t thrilled with her ambition to become a writer. She married young and promptly moved to Rome with her new husband, where her writing career really took off. It seemed like she was itching to leave small-town Sardinia behind, but she often set her books there, describing that traditional life with humor and affection, but also realistic criticism of expectations and traditions that held people down.

In Reeds in the Wind, it really feels like Deledda is chronicling a dying way of life. The story centers around three proud sisters whose family used to be rich. Their home is crumbling around them, they can’t afford to pay the aging caretaker who runs their farm, they have no prospects for improving their situation; all they have is their pride in their noble heritage and their family’s past glory. Deledda shows us a world of dying glory, fate, ghosts and portents that is fascinating but quite sad. All the characters seem trapped in roles and beliefs that no longer serve them, and none of them come to a satisfying end.

The Church of Solitude has a more humorous and hopeful feel, which is ironic because Deledda wrote it while dying of breast cancer. Her main character, Maria Concezione, also has breast cancer. The story begins with a blunt and brutal recognition of this fact. Maria, it is clear, should now consider herself a dying woman. It might be a year, five, ten, but the cancer will come back and kill her. It’s also thought that she could pass the cancer to any children she might bear, and before she’s even home from the hospital Maria decides she should never marry. Unfortunately, it’s taboo to even mention the cancer to people, so she can’t properly explain this decision to anyone. Not to her suitor Aroldo, who’s devastated by her sudden loss of interest. Not to the family friend who wants her to marry one of his sons (pick one, he doesn’t care which) or the relative who wants Maria for her own son, not to anyone. A number of frustrating and darkly funny situations arise as passionate Maria tries to find peace and solitude to deal with her illness while still being tempted to just run off with Aroldo in spite of it all.

These were both fairly quick and easy books, but I didn’t love them. I’ve been putting off this review because I’m not actually sure why. I think Reeds in the Wind just didn’t mesh with my personal preferences. I like the challenge of reading characters much different from myself, but a lot of the characters in this one were mean-spirited and selfish without being very interesting about it. I found myself a bit glad that this crappy town full of awful people was crumbling into dust. I enjoyed The Church of Solitude more because the characters felt more vibrant and varied, but I still didn’t love it. Perhaps there’s something vital lost in translation here, either literally in the change from Italian to English or in trying to convey traditional Sardinian society to a 21st century American.

I think I expected too much because the first two winners I read were very impressive. The early 20th century was full of realist and naturalist writers and Italy was no exception. Deledda was one of several Italian realists of the period. The U.S. turned out a lot of great realist writers and they featured heavily in my education over the years; maybe that style just feels too familiar to enthrall me easily. The Church of Solitude was written long after Deledda received the Nobel but I suspect it’s the most daring, writing so candidly about intimate female concerns, and I’m glad she did it. I haven’t read anything so blunt and open in realism of that era and this book probably deserves to be studied more. If you’re up for a book by Deledda, I’d recommend that one.