Women were certainly not yet mistresses of themselves. Would they ever be?'First published in 1906, this semi-autobiographical novel is a key text for understanding Italian women's writing of the twentieth century and offers a tremendous insight into fin de siècle Italian life and its complex web of social issues.Aleramo's astonishing account takes the reader across a tormented journey of self-affirmation - from the narrator's loss of innocence, grief and isolation, enlightenment, then independence - offering a strikingly clear self-analysis and a vibrant depiction of the early feminist movement in Italy. It is a captivating Bildungsroman whose endpoint is a new, emancipated female identity.