Nessuno torna indietro

Alba de Céspedes’ first novel, No Turning Back was banned by Fascist censors after publication in 1938 for rejecting the Fascist model of “the exemplary wife and mother” in favor of a non-normative femininity, one which was deemed potentially disruptive of the regime’s social rules. It later sold 200,000 copies, was translated in 24 languages, and placed de Céspedes among top international writers. Set in 1930s Rome, the novel revolves around eight young women at Grimaldi, a women’s college run by nuns. As we follow Emanuela, Xenia, Silvia, Vinca, Anna, Valentina, Augusta and Milly, stories from their past and present mingle, which explore the need for identity, self-assertion, and autonomy from the domineering male figures in their lives, including fathers, lovers, suitors, and professors.