A collection of magical Italian folk and fairy tales--most in English
for the first time
The Pomegranates and Other Modern Italian Fairy Tales presents twenty
magical stories published between 1875 and 1914, following Italy's
political unification. In those decades of political and social change,
folklorists collected fairy tales from many regions of the country while
influential writers invented original narratives in standard Italian,
drawing on traditional tales in local dialects, and translated others
from France. This collection features a range of these entertaining
jewels from such authors as Carlo Collodi, most celebrated for the novel
Pinocchio, and Domenico Comparetti, regarded as the Italian Grimm, to
Grazia Deledda, the only Italian woman to have received the Nobel Prize
in Literature. With one exception, all of these tales are appearing in
English for the first time.
The stories in this volume are linked by themes of metamorphosis: a man
turns into a lion, a dove, and an ant; a handsome youth emerges from a
pig's body; and three lovely women rise out of the rinds of
pomegranates. There are also more introspective transformations: a
self-absorbed princess learns about manners, a melancholy prince finds
joy again, and a complacent young woman discovers gratitude. Cristina
Mazzoni provides a comprehensive introduction that situates the tales in
their cultural and historical context. The collection also includes
period illustrations and biographical notes about the authors.
Filled with adventures, supernatural and fantastic events, and brave and
flawed protagonists, The Pomegranates and Other Modern Italian Fairy
Tales will delight, surprise, and astonish.
