Incredibly powerful book. I literally could not put it down. A woman bucking the mold in an era of conformity. Many times I felt a personal connection with the writing—not so much with Sabina as with Alan. ( )

Moglie dolcissima e mite, amante appassionata e bugiarda, Sabina, la protagonista di Una spia nella casa dell'amore, è una donna dalle innumerevoli sfaccettature che cerca la propria identità inseguendo contemporaneamente molti amori. L'unione con il marito le dà sicurezza, ma non la soddisfa appieno, perché un solo amore non riesce a far vibrare in lei le infinite corde della sua sensualità. Durante le molteplici peregrinazioni amorose, Sabina ritrova negli altri uomini il riflesso del suo io spezzato che però non le corrisponde mai esattamente.

This book was written in the late 1950s and I can understand why it must have been quite shocking at the time. I also believe it stands the test of time well....maybe not shocking any more, but still a story that is relevant today.

Sabina is married to Alan. She loves him and feels protected and loved in their relationship. She is, however, compelled to fall in love with strangers and has a series of affairs. In each one, she becomes a different person. She takes on roles to give her partners what they need or want from her. She lives with feelings of guilt and remains restless and unfulfilled.

The book explores Sabina's thoughts and feelings. It is sensuous, interesting and ultimately, sad. I subtracted half a star because the last paragraph didn't make sense to me. ( )

Another age, another view. The grand dame of sexual expression. Ahead of her time and seeking to make it her own. She wants you! ( )

I picked this up as I am going through a feminist classic lit phase. I have to say I don't think this qualifies as either classic or feminist.
While it may have been socially shocking at the time to write about women who have affairs and like sex, I found it neither shocking nor particularly sexually explicit.
It is the story of a woman searching for passion and acceptance - the trouble is she cannot seem to accept her own actions and is plagued by guilt for both the betrayal of her long term lover (husband?) and her inability to give her lovers the commitment or other emotional support they want.
The presence of the "Lie Detector" speaks about that guilt manifesting in a mental breakdown.
I found this story to be more about mental health than sexual licence.
The language used in the story created another barrier to understanding to me - there were so many references to poetry, musical styles and (what I am assuming were) 1950's/american cultural icons that I frequently had to re-read or stop and look up words / people/ places so I could understand how they related to what was going on.
I'm sure this will remain a literary classic for its poetic language and descriptive prowess( it seems to be just the hard to read nonsense the literati love, but I'm not sure it holds feminist and / or shock value in a post Sex and the City world. ( )