Greatly influenced by writers ranging from Dickens and Proust to Woolf
and Colette, Anna Banti was a prominent figure on the Italian literary
scene from the 1940s until her death in 1985. The five tales in "La
signorina" e altri racconti display her talent across many
genres--fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, mystery.Banti's
stories portray the ageless conflict between the expectations of society
and the aspirations of the individual. In "Vocazioni indistinte," the
young Ofelia becomes a pianist after her marriage prospects fail, but
self-doubt turns her success into miserable mediocrity. In the
futuristic "Le donne muoiono," men acquire a new evolutionary ability;
women, lacking that ability, are consigned to the status of an inferior
race. "Joveta di Betania," set in the time of the Crusades, follows the
daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem as she escapes to a life of
seclusion as an abbess--a life that becomes for her a source of proud
freedom and deep bitterness. In "I velieri," a young boy creates an
imaginary world from an uncertain childhood memory. "La signorina" tells
of a young woman who eventually finds herself, as a writer.