La Madre

Grazia Deledda is one of the most important women writers of the twentieth century. Her depiction of the primitive and isolated communities of northern Sardinia in a perceptive, intense and individual style gained her the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927. 'The interest in La Madre lies in the presentation of sheer instinctive life. The love of the priest for the woman is sheer instinctive passion, pure and undefiled by sentiment. The instinct of direct sex is so strong and so vivid, that only the bling instinct of mother obedience, the child instinct, can overcome it.' D. H. Lawrence ' Deledda's talent for capturing the internal torment of her characters, and the inspired use of the dual perspective of Paul and his titular mother, saw her win the 1927 Nobel Literature Prize, and ensures the novella remains a compelling and refreshing read today.' Alex Payne in Buzz Magazine