Alba de Céspedes (1911–1997)
Author of Forbidden Notebook
About the Author
Image credit: Alba de Céspedes
Works by Alba de Céspedes
Biblioteca de selecciones del Reader's Digest. Cuaderno prohibido. Madame Curie. El invierno de nuestra amargura. La… — Contributor — 1 copy
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Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Céspedes, Alba de
- Legal name
- Céspedes y Bertini, Alba Carla Lauritai de
- Birthdate
- 1911-03-11
- Date of death
- 1997-11-14
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Italy
- Birthplace
- Rome, Italy
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Places of residence
- Paris, France
- Education
- privately educated
- Occupations
- journalist
scriptwriter
poet
feminist
Resistance fighter
short story writer (show all 7)
novelist - Relationships
- Céspedes del Castillo, Carlos Manuel de (grandparent)
de Céspedes y Quesada, Carlos Manuel (father)
Bertini Alessandrini, Laura (mother) - Organizations
- Il Mercurio (founder)
- Short biography
- Alba de Céspedes was born in Rome, Italy, to an Italian mother and an aristocratic Cuban father She grew up in a wealthy and politically engaged family (her grandfather was the first president of Cuba), and became fluent in both Spanish and Italian, as well as several other European languages. She became a writer at a young age and published her first collection of short stories, L'anima degli altri (The Soul of Others) at 24, in 1935. She was jailed for anti-fascist activities in 1935 and 1943. Her first novel, Nessuno torna indietro (There's No Turning Back), which appeared in 1938, was banned by the Italian fascist regime but became a bestseller internationally. During World War II, de Céspedes worked with the Italian Resistance and made broadcasts with Radio Partigiana in Bari under the pseudonym Clorinda.
At the end of the war, she founded the literary magazine Mercurio, which published many authors who greatly influenced cultural developments in Italy and worldwide. After it closed, from 1952 to 1958, she wrote a regular column for the weekly magazine Epoca, as well as contributing to newspapers such as La Stampa. Her best known work today may be the feminist novel Quaderno proibito (Forbidden Notebook, also known as The Secret), published in 1952. In the late 1950s, she moved to Paris and wrote her last novels and poems in French. She worked in theater and films, and several of her books were made into movies and television dramas. De Céspedes was married twice: firstly in 1926, at age of 15, to count Giuseppe Antamoro, with whom she had a son; they divorced in 1931. In 1940 she married the Italian diplomat Franco Bounous and accompanied him to the USA and the USSR.
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Author name written as a book title in Bug Collectors (July 2022)
Reviews
Forbidden Notebook: A Novel by Alba De Céspedes
Phenomenal!
A novel of intense interiority that showcases change at the societal and personal level, Quaderno Proibito was published in Italy in the early 1950s (first serialized, then as a book), translated into English in 1957 as “The Secret”, and now given a new English translation in 2023 as “Forbidden Notebook”. Written in diary format, it deals with the struggles of a 43 year old woman to come to terms with her life choices and what she wants from her life in the current day. Its first English title emphasizes that she has been and is withholding information - such withholding is and has been from herself as well as from those close to her. Its new English title, more literally translated, points to the field of play where such information is brought forth and explored by its “author”, Valeria Cossati.
In the forward to this new translation Jhumpa Lahiri states that diaries and notebooks are “declarations of autonomy.” That Valeria would even keep a diary, thus claiming some autonomy for herself, is seen as absurd by her family when raised as a theoretical early in the novel. Her family consists of a husband and two children who are on the cusp of adulthood. None of them can conceive of Valeria as an individual actor; everything she is and does is rather embedded into the family. She hardly exists except in that context so what would she need with a place for her autonomous self to emerge.
Beginning a diary was a sudden decision by Valeria, seemingly a subconscious impulse that could not be denied. We can see it as her true inner self demanding to be acknowledged after long suppression. What allowed this breakthrough might be identified in a couple of factors external to Valeria that have pierced her routine. First the changing mores and expectations of women in post-war Italy, a nation shattered by fascism and war. Valeria herself has been forced into the labor pool by poverty, while still feeling the weight of expectation to be a selfless domestic worker at home by her family. Secondly and relatedly is the rebellion against the traditional gender roles assigned to women by her daughter Mirella, a physical and close to home embodiment of societal level changes that forces Valeria to confront the worldview she has previously taken for granted, and to examine her past choices and future options.
This is uncomfortable. Feeling unmoored from our beliefs, questioning what we have previously viewed as truth, is such an unpleasant experience that humans of all backgrounds and ideological systems have a strong tendency to avoid it! Valeria forges ahead however, despite being well aware that, as she writes, “I have to acknowledge it isn’t making [my life] any happier.”
In the notebook Valeria comes to admit to herself that in fact she is not happy and hasn’t been for a long time. Her unhappiness is caused by and embedded in a family structure that retains traditional expectations, and yet she finds herself fighting to defend these very expectations and structures against Mirella’s rejection of them. While this is going on Valeria begins a hesitant romance with her boss even as she continually says it is “not possible”, and futilely tries to resurrect some emotions in her love-dead marriage. All this cognitive dissonance does nothing to advance her happiness or peace of mind, though it does begin to present openings into a new way of being, and new possibilities that might lead to happiness.
Whether Valeria will be able to take advantage of them is still uncertain at the end of the novel. The family with its tyrannical demands asserts new claims over her and an entire lifetime’s way of being is still powerful. In the manner of a fallen soldier urging on a comrade, she tells Mirella, “Maybe I won’t tell you any more, but remember what I told you tonight: save yourself, you who can do it. Go, be quick.”
Not a quick read for me, I think I spent as much time thinking about Valeria outside the bounds of the text as the character would have spent thinking in real time, ha, but a remarkable peek into an historical moment and a human consciousness.… (more)
In the forward to this new translation Jhumpa Lahiri states that diaries and notebooks are “declarations of autonomy.” That Valeria would even keep a diary, thus claiming some autonomy for herself, is seen as absurd by her family when raised as a theoretical early in the novel. Her family consists of a husband and two children who are on the cusp of adulthood. None of them can conceive of Valeria as an individual actor; everything she is and does is rather embedded into the family. She hardly exists except in that context so what would she need with a place for her autonomous self to emerge.
Beginning a diary was a sudden decision by Valeria, seemingly a subconscious impulse that could not be denied. We can see it as her true inner self demanding to be acknowledged after long suppression. What allowed this breakthrough might be identified in a couple of factors external to Valeria that have pierced her routine. First the changing mores and expectations of women in post-war Italy, a nation shattered by fascism and war. Valeria herself has been forced into the labor pool by poverty, while still feeling the weight of expectation to be a selfless domestic worker at home by her family. Secondly and relatedly is the rebellion against the traditional gender roles assigned to women by her daughter Mirella, a physical and close to home embodiment of societal level changes that forces Valeria to confront the worldview she has previously taken for granted, and to examine her past choices and future options.
This is uncomfortable. Feeling unmoored from our beliefs, questioning what we have previously viewed as truth, is such an unpleasant experience that humans of all backgrounds and ideological systems have a strong tendency to avoid it! Valeria forges ahead however, despite being well aware that, as she writes, “I have to acknowledge it isn’t making [my life] any happier.”
In the notebook Valeria comes to admit to herself that in fact she is not happy and hasn’t been for a long time. Her unhappiness is caused by and embedded in a family structure that retains traditional expectations, and yet she finds herself fighting to defend these very expectations and structures against Mirella’s rejection of them. While this is going on Valeria begins a hesitant romance with her boss even as she continually says it is “not possible”, and futilely tries to resurrect some emotions in her love-dead marriage. All this cognitive dissonance does nothing to advance her happiness or peace of mind, though it does begin to present openings into a new way of being, and new possibilities that might lead to happiness.
Whether Valeria will be able to take advantage of them is still uncertain at the end of the novel. The family with its tyrannical demands asserts new claims over her and an entire lifetime’s way of being is still powerful. In the manner of a fallen soldier urging on a comrade, she tells Mirella, “Maybe I won’t tell you any more, but remember what I told you tonight: save yourself, you who can do it. Go, be quick.”
Not a quick read for me, I think I spent as much time thinking about Valeria outside the bounds of the text as the character would have spent thinking in real time, ha, but a remarkable peek into an historical moment and a human consciousness.… (more)
After reading The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Cespedes, I was interested in reading her again. Her Side of the Story is the story of a woman’s obsessive dream of ideal romantic love derailed by her beloved’s commitment to fighting fascism in Mussolini’s Italy.
Alessandra adored her mother, a beautiful, dreamy woman disappointed in love. She was a pianist hoping for a career when she fell in love. Marriage reduced her to giving piano lessons to untalented children, her distant husband expecting her to be a traditional housewife. In the first half of the story, Sandra tells of her childhood and her mother’s attachment to a man who is her soul mate, and her mother’s tragic end.
Sandra never forged a relationship with her distant father. After her mother’s death, she goes to the country to live with her grandmother and aunt. Although she has suitors, Sandra resists relationships until she finds true love. After turning down a suitable marriage offer, she returns to the city where she falls for an older, intelligent professor. Caught up in the throes of first love and discovery of the beloved, Sandra believes that Francesco is the man she has been waiting for, sure that their romance will never alter.
But, her beloved is an anti-fascist involved in the resistance. His essential work comes first, leaving his wife alone, expecting Sandra to be satisfied with a cursory kiss on the check.
Sandra is discontent. She tries to spur Francesco to reenact their courtship. Instead, his risks land him him in prison. Sandra becomes involved in the resistance, and fends off her husband’s friend who professes his love for her. When Francesco returns from prison, he becomes important in the government, his attention still focused on the outer life and big issues.
Sandra’s obsession becomes a form of insanity, leading her to a shocking act. The entire book is her story of what lead her to this end.
The novel was published in 1949 and describes the limited choices available to Italian women, especially in marriage. Although a long novel, a book club would find much to discuss. I could see Francesco, like Rick in Casablanca, believing that the personal life of individuals is not important in a world that is falling apart. Francesco is a hero, a man who sacrifices the personal for the greater good. But all Sandra has is his love, and she is unwilling or unable to grow past her girlish fantasy.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.… (more)
Alessandra adored her mother, a beautiful, dreamy woman disappointed in love. She was a pianist hoping for a career when she fell in love. Marriage reduced her to giving piano lessons to untalented children, her distant husband expecting her to be a traditional housewife. In the first half of the story, Sandra tells of her childhood and her mother’s attachment to a man who is her soul mate, and her mother’s tragic end.
Sandra never forged a relationship with her distant father. After her mother’s death, she goes to the country to live with her grandmother and aunt. Although she has suitors, Sandra resists relationships until she finds true love. After turning down a suitable marriage offer, she returns to the city where she falls for an older, intelligent professor. Caught up in the throes of first love and discovery of the beloved, Sandra believes that Francesco is the man she has been waiting for, sure that their romance will never alter.
But, her beloved is an anti-fascist involved in the resistance. His essential work comes first, leaving his wife alone, expecting Sandra to be satisfied with a cursory kiss on the check.
Sandra is discontent. She tries to spur Francesco to reenact their courtship. Instead, his risks land him him in prison. Sandra becomes involved in the resistance, and fends off her husband’s friend who professes his love for her. When Francesco returns from prison, he becomes important in the government, his attention still focused on the outer life and big issues.
Sandra’s obsession becomes a form of insanity, leading her to a shocking act. The entire book is her story of what lead her to this end.
The novel was published in 1949 and describes the limited choices available to Italian women, especially in marriage. Although a long novel, a book club would find much to discuss. I could see Francesco, like Rick in Casablanca, believing that the personal life of individuals is not important in a world that is falling apart. Francesco is a hero, a man who sacrifices the personal for the greater good. But all Sandra has is his love, and she is unwilling or unable to grow past her girlish fantasy.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.… (more)
4.5⭐️
“My life always appeared rather insignificant, without remarkable events, apart from my marriage and the birth of the children. Instead, ever since I happened to start keeping a diary, I seem to have discovered that a word or an intonation can be just as important, or even more, than the facts we’re accustomed to consider important. If we can learn to understand the smallest things that happen every day, then maybe we can learn to truly understand the secret meaning of life. But I don’t know if it’s a good thing, I’m afraid not.”
In November 1950 forty –three-year-old Valeria Cossati purchases a black notebook from a tobacconist – a “forbidden” item as the tobacco is not permitted to sell anything but tobacco to his customers. Her journal entries give us a window into Valeria’s home, her family, and Valeria herself as documented over the next six months. Valeria’s life revolves around her family – her husband Michele, and her two grown children Riccardo and Mirella. Financially they are getting by but are not well-off. Valeria is not simply a housewife but also works to supplement her husband’s income- a fact that is frowned upon by her own mother whose family comes from more affluent origins. Valeria is trapped in a conventional marriage despite her having the freedom to work. She is conflicted but unable to express her true feelings, correctly assuming that it would fracture the delicate balance she has established within her family more often that not at the cost of stifling her own wishes and desires.
“I often have a desire to confide in a living person, not only in this notebook. But I’ve never been able to. Stronger than the desire to confide is the fear of destroying something that I’ve been constructing day by day, for twenty years, the only thing I possess.”
Valeria is anxious and consumed by feelings of guilt and fears that her secret diary will be discovered. Multiple times throughout her diary she shares how difficult it is for her to hide this diary and how she keeps changing where she keeps it. She yearns for a “space” that she can call her own – her bedroom is occupied by her husband who spends time listening to music or reading in his free time, her children have their own rooms and she is left to write her entries at night after everyone is asleep in constant fear of being discovered.
“Because when I write in this notebook, I feel I’m committing a serious sin, a sacrilege: it’s as if I were talking to the devil. Opening it, my hands tremble; I’m afraid. I see the white pages, the dense parallel lines ready to receive the chronicle of my future days, and even before I’ve lived them, I’m distressed. I know that my reactions to the facts I write down in detail lead me to know myself more intimately every day. Maybe there are people who, knowing themselves, are able to improve; but the better I know myself, the more lost I become.”
Valeria’s “forbidden” notebook, proves to be an outlet for her most private thoughts, a place she can vent her frustrations, anger, and disappointment towards her marriage, her husband, her children and life in general. Valeria’s diary gives her a voice and the opportunity to be herself and understand herself even though she is unable to share the same with anyone. Valeria struggles as she reflects on her marriage and tries to hold onto the values and principles she has adhered to all her life. She is unable to reconcile with the way her children, her daughter in particular chooses to lead their own. Her husband attributes her conflicts with Marilla to “maternal jealousy” which gives you an idea of how marginalized Valeria is in her own home. She also shares her budding friendship with a colleague, a friendship that does not come with a preconceived set of expectations, unlike all her other relationships
Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes, translated by Ann Goldstein is a stunningly insightful novel that is both timeless and relevant in its appeal and impactful in its message. The Foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri provides insight into the historical context of this novel. The narrative is shared from Valeria’s perspective through a series of journal entries. Originally published in its original Italian as a series in the magazine La Settimana Incom Illustrata, between December 1950 and June 1951, Valeria’s journal entries give us a glimpse into the societal norms and social class distinctions, gender roles and expectations and the generational differences in terms of mindset and ambition in the post-war years. Mirella and Valeria and their arguments on how women should lead their lives give us insight into how women perceived their roles in a changing society. What strikes you as hypocritical is Valeria’s family’s attitude toward her need for privacy. When mentioned in passing, the very idea of Valeria keeping a locked drawer for her personal use like the other members of her family or even owning a diary where she might write down her thoughts is laughable to the rest of her family. Her husband goes one step further to point out that their daughter Mirella could need a private diary, given her youth and need to keep secrets but why would Valeria need a diary? What could she possibly write in it? Her family’s regard for Valeria despite her being an earning member of the family differs greatly from the respect Michele receives. This is a nuanced and complex novel but the prose is simple yet elegant and the author writes beautifully, engaging the reader from the very first page. The ending might leave you disheartened but will compel you to think about Valeria long after you’ve finished reading her diary.
I paired my reading with the exceptional audio narration by Cassandra Campbell which transported me to Valeria's world.
“When I started writing, I thought I’d reached the point where conclusions could be drawn about one’s own life. But every experience—even the one that comes from this long questioning of myself in the notebook—teaches me that all life passes in the anguished attempt to draw conclusions and not succeeding. At least for me it’s like that: everything seems, at the same time, good and bad, just and unjust, even transient and eternal.”… (more)
“My life always appeared rather insignificant, without remarkable events, apart from my marriage and the birth of the children. Instead, ever since I happened to start keeping a diary, I seem to have discovered that a word or an intonation can be just as important, or even more, than the facts we’re accustomed to consider important. If we can learn to understand the smallest things that happen every day, then maybe we can learn to truly understand the secret meaning of life. But I don’t know if it’s a good thing, I’m afraid not.”
In November 1950 forty –three-year-old Valeria Cossati purchases a black notebook from a tobacconist – a “forbidden” item as the tobacco is not permitted to sell anything but tobacco to his customers. Her journal entries give us a window into Valeria’s home, her family, and Valeria herself as documented over the next six months. Valeria’s life revolves around her family – her husband Michele, and her two grown children Riccardo and Mirella. Financially they are getting by but are not well-off. Valeria is not simply a housewife but also works to supplement her husband’s income- a fact that is frowned upon by her own mother whose family comes from more affluent origins. Valeria is trapped in a conventional marriage despite her having the freedom to work. She is conflicted but unable to express her true feelings, correctly assuming that it would fracture the delicate balance she has established within her family more often that not at the cost of stifling her own wishes and desires.
“I often have a desire to confide in a living person, not only in this notebook. But I’ve never been able to. Stronger than the desire to confide is the fear of destroying something that I’ve been constructing day by day, for twenty years, the only thing I possess.”
Valeria is anxious and consumed by feelings of guilt and fears that her secret diary will be discovered. Multiple times throughout her diary she shares how difficult it is for her to hide this diary and how she keeps changing where she keeps it. She yearns for a “space” that she can call her own – her bedroom is occupied by her husband who spends time listening to music or reading in his free time, her children have their own rooms and she is left to write her entries at night after everyone is asleep in constant fear of being discovered.
“Because when I write in this notebook, I feel I’m committing a serious sin, a sacrilege: it’s as if I were talking to the devil. Opening it, my hands tremble; I’m afraid. I see the white pages, the dense parallel lines ready to receive the chronicle of my future days, and even before I’ve lived them, I’m distressed. I know that my reactions to the facts I write down in detail lead me to know myself more intimately every day. Maybe there are people who, knowing themselves, are able to improve; but the better I know myself, the more lost I become.”
Valeria’s “forbidden” notebook, proves to be an outlet for her most private thoughts, a place she can vent her frustrations, anger, and disappointment towards her marriage, her husband, her children and life in general. Valeria’s diary gives her a voice and the opportunity to be herself and understand herself even though she is unable to share the same with anyone. Valeria struggles as she reflects on her marriage and tries to hold onto the values and principles she has adhered to all her life. She is unable to reconcile with the way her children, her daughter in particular chooses to lead their own. Her husband attributes her conflicts with Marilla to “maternal jealousy” which gives you an idea of how marginalized Valeria is in her own home. She also shares her budding friendship with a colleague, a friendship that does not come with a preconceived set of expectations, unlike all her other relationships
Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes, translated by Ann Goldstein is a stunningly insightful novel that is both timeless and relevant in its appeal and impactful in its message. The Foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri provides insight into the historical context of this novel. The narrative is shared from Valeria’s perspective through a series of journal entries. Originally published in its original Italian as a series in the magazine La Settimana Incom Illustrata, between December 1950 and June 1951, Valeria’s journal entries give us a glimpse into the societal norms and social class distinctions, gender roles and expectations and the generational differences in terms of mindset and ambition in the post-war years. Mirella and Valeria and their arguments on how women should lead their lives give us insight into how women perceived their roles in a changing society. What strikes you as hypocritical is Valeria’s family’s attitude toward her need for privacy. When mentioned in passing, the very idea of Valeria keeping a locked drawer for her personal use like the other members of her family or even owning a diary where she might write down her thoughts is laughable to the rest of her family. Her husband goes one step further to point out that their daughter Mirella could need a private diary, given her youth and need to keep secrets but why would Valeria need a diary? What could she possibly write in it? Her family’s regard for Valeria despite her being an earning member of the family differs greatly from the respect Michele receives. This is a nuanced and complex novel but the prose is simple yet elegant and the author writes beautifully, engaging the reader from the very first page. The ending might leave you disheartened but will compel you to think about Valeria long after you’ve finished reading her diary.
I paired my reading with the exceptional audio narration by Cassandra Campbell which transported me to Valeria's world.
“When I started writing, I thought I’d reached the point where conclusions could be drawn about one’s own life. But every experience—even the one that comes from this long questioning of myself in the notebook—teaches me that all life passes in the anguished attempt to draw conclusions and not succeeding. At least for me it’s like that: everything seems, at the same time, good and bad, just and unjust, even transient and eternal.”… (more)
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