Welcome to Litsy!

Evoking in vivid detail the literary world in Rome at the turn of the century. Her Husband tells the story of Silvia Roncella, a talented young female writer, and her husband Giustino Boggiolo. The novel opens with their arrival in Rome after having left their provincial southern Italian hometown following the success of Silvia's first novel, the rather humorously titled House of Dwarves. As his wife's self-appointed (and self-important) promoter, protector, counselor, and manager, Giustino becomes the primary target of Pirandello's satire. But the couple's relationship - and their dual career - is also complicated by a lively supporting cast of characters, including literary bohemians with avant-garde pretensions and would-be aristocratic aesthetes who are all too aware of the newly acquired power of journalists and the publishing establishment to make or break their careers. Having based many of the characters - including Silvia and Giustino - on actual literary acquaintances of his, Pirandello reacted to the novel's controversial reception by not allowing it to be reprinted after the first printing sold out. Not until after his death were copies again made available in Italy.