A captivating feminist classic about a woman's struggle for independence in fascist Italy, from the author of Forbidden Notebook - with an afterword by Elena Ferrante Alessandra has always wanted more than life offered her. Growing up in a crowded apartment block in 1930s Rome, she watches as her mother's dreams of becoming a concert pianist are stifled by an unsatisfying marriage. When her father's traditional family try to make Alessandra marry at a young age, she rebels against the future they imagine for her. Soon she falls passionately in love with Francesco, an anti-fascist professor, and a new world seems to open up. Working for the underground resistance, she tastes the independence that she has yearned for. But what will it take for her to break free from society's expectations, and live on her own terms? Drawing on Alba de Céspedes's own experiences in Italy's wartime uprising, Her Side of the Story is a feminist chronicle of fierce and unforgettable power.

"Alba de Céspedes wrote novels in the 1940s and 1950s that were radically contemporary, both then and now... A courageous novel, beautifully imagined and written" - Washington Post

"de Céspedes masterfully chronicles how a lifetime of indignities and sufferings can pile up to fray even the most well-intended people... Her Side of the Story is an achievement that warrants not only a second look at this forgotten writer, but also an important place in the canon of women's literature" - Chicago Review of Books

"Devastating... de Céspedes's melancholy testament to a hidden life feels timeless and vital" - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A lavishly detailed critique of romantic ideals and social constrictions" - Kirkus Review

"Electric... de Céspedes's novel anticipates the candid confessionals of writers such as Deborah Levy, Sheila Heti and Rachel Cusk... Formally precise, psychologically rich, and suffused in suspicion and suspense, Forbidden Notebook is an exquisite, tormented how" - Financial Times

"Recently rediscovered, her work has lost none of its subversive force" - New York Times