3.5
There's No Turning Back
ByPublisher Description
Discover the astonishingly powerful debut novel by the beloved feminist author of the “brilliant” (The Wall Street Journal) Forbidden Notebook and the “courageous” (The Washington Post) Her Side of the Story that was so subversive, it was banned by the Italian Fascist regime when it was first published in 1938.
A coming-of-age novel that is as relevant today as it was nearly ninety years ago, There’s No Turning Back centers on eight women with radically different backgrounds who attend the same college in Rome. Some are there to study, others to escape a scandal, or keep a secret, and during their time there, they experience the challenges of love, work, and emancipation.
Considered experimental and revolutionary at the time, this novel established Alba de Céspedes as a powerful new voice in the 20th century. Translated by Ann Goldstein, There’s No Turning Back demonstrates why de Céspedes deserves “an important place in the canon of women’s literature” (Chicago Review of Books).
A coming-of-age novel that is as relevant today as it was nearly ninety years ago, There’s No Turning Back centers on eight women with radically different backgrounds who attend the same college in Rome. Some are there to study, others to escape a scandal, or keep a secret, and during their time there, they experience the challenges of love, work, and emancipation.
Considered experimental and revolutionary at the time, this novel established Alba de Céspedes as a powerful new voice in the 20th century. Translated by Ann Goldstein, There’s No Turning Back demonstrates why de Céspedes deserves “an important place in the canon of women’s literature” (Chicago Review of Books).
3 Reviews
3.5
annayareads
Created 24 days agoShare
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“We were girls together.
Alba de Céspedes crafts a beautiful tale of girlhood and the bonds that can be formed through proximity. Silvia was definitely one of my favorite characters, and I found myself tearing up at her descriptions of studying ("Only then she began to understand what she intended to say when, on the form, she haf answered the question 'Why have you chosen to devote yourself to study?' with the words 'To live.'") All of the characters are loveable, though. You want the best for them, but de Céspedes complicates what the best would be. It's also a fascinating look at this point in European history. Ann Goldstein's translation is great, but it can feel stiff at times (though that might be due to the language of the older text). Overall, I highly recommmend.”TallLadyReads
Created 2 months agoShare
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BirdieMama
Created 3 months agoShare
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“In “There’s No Turning Back” we follow a group of women of different ages, backgrounds, and ambitions as they attend college together. It’s clear from the very beginning that while the main characters of the story are women, they are all in very different points of life. In turn, readers will experience trials, triumphs, and tribulations alongside these characters as we read of their life’s challenges. As I did enjoy the characters stories, I did not care for the transitions between stories as they switched quickly and sometimes made reading this book feel disjointed. Also, some bits of the story felt a bit dry. I was however, impressed that this was a debut novel from the 1930’s because it covered topics that would’ve been seen as very taboo for the times and has feminist undertones. This book may be older but it still carries relevancy in today’s current atmosphere.”
About Alba De Céspedes
Alba de Céspedes (1911–1997) was a bestselling Italian Cuban feminist writer greatly influenced by the cultural developments that lead to and resulted from World War II. Along with being imprisoned for her anti-fascist work, several of her novels were banned in Italy. After the war, she moved to Paris, where she lived until her death in 1997.
Other books by Alba De Céspedes
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