FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.
My Rating: 4 / 5
My Introduction to the Plot...
Annetta lives in a small village in Sicily, and all she wants to do is wear trousers! However, her overbearing parents and traditional neighbours will stop and nothing to get in her way.
This is one of the texts I am allowed to use for the coursework module of Italian A-Level, but I decided to read this English translation first. This was so that I could properly make a judgement on the novel before committing to study it.
The main thing I loved about this book was this: Cardella deals with some extremely serious topics whilst maintaining a lightness to her prose. I finished it in two sittings, which would have been one had I not had school the next day.
In only a few pages (it is a short novel), Cardella develops several complex characters. Annetta, the protagonist, is entertaining and fun, even if her internal monologue sometimes felt too youthful for her age. Her parents are utterly ghastly, and I would have liked their flaws to be emphasised a little more. However, we should take into account that this novel was published in back in 1989, and was already so controversial for the time that it was banned in Cardella's village!
I was able to envision Annetta's village with complete clarity, which was perhaps helped by the novel being semi-autobiographical. All in all, I enjoyed it much more than I had expected to!
For any of you thinking you might read this novel, I will give a Trigger Warning for its scenes of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
This book on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180881.Good_Girls_Don_t_Wear_Trousers?rating=1&utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book
About the Author: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/64624.Lara_Cardella
Review written on 16/03/2022
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