Book Review of Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Cespedes (trans Ann Goldstein)

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Type of book: Italy, family, 1950-1951, six months, travel, affair, work, old vs new, diary, breaking society's roles 

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Summary:

Characters:

Main characters are Valeria and her family. There is Valeria who is longing to be more than just a housewife, but she feels constrained by society and her family to remain as she is. She is also dealing with a lot of changes when it comes to her family and society. While Valeria is struggling with roles and family obligations, HER husband DESIRES to have a change of career and to be more than he is, a mere provider. Her son wants to leave for Argentina and quite often is old fashioned on his views, especially as it relates to his younger sister. The youngest sister, Mirella, is perhaps a modern day girl who wants to break out of the societal constraints by working and having an affair with a married man. 

Theme:

It's amazing what diaries can reveal 

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Valerias point of view, and it's written in a diary form over the course of six months or so, dealing with household issues and relationships. While writing it, there is strong desire to stop and get rid of notebook because of the effect it has on her and her family. It is definitely one of the unique stories that I had the chance to read recently. 

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Opinion:

I have previously read the authors magnus opus, HER SIDE OF THE STORY, which I just LOVED, thus I was looking forward to getting my hands on FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK. The story is quite different than HER SIDE OF THE STORY, which is a tale of feminine coming of age that is extremely universal. While FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK is also very focused on  woman's experience, that of being a mother to grown children, it's quite a different experience. Its also shocking as to how universal the story is, and I do feel sad that I don't think it will be a classic, as I wish it could be. Like in HER SIDE OF THE STORY, I definitely saw myself and my mom within the characters. I also found it shocking that while the main character and I were the same age, our experiences were quite different; mine being a mother of a 9 year old boy, while she has two kids who are close to age of twenty. Definitely an awesome and amazing read. It would be fun if there could be a follow up written to the story, this time with the siblings dealing with 2025 societal moores and dating. 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)