Dacia Maraini is Italy's most controversial author. Works translated into English include Isolina, The Silent Duchess (Campiello Prize 1990) and Bagheria. A fearless political and social campaigner, she is hated by the power brokers of Italian society. As the Guardian put it: 'Once Alberto Moravia's lover, she is now a bestselling writer, vociferous about women and the Left, who has turned detective. No wonder the Italian establishment want to silence Dacia Maraini.'
