After L'architettrice, Melania Mazzucco returns to narrate an entire world through the fate of a woman in her latest novel, Silenzio. Le sette vite di Diana Karenne (Einaudi). The author will discuss her work on stage with Wlodek Goldkorn, moderated by Gabriele Ametrano, Artistic Director of Giunti Odeon.

The book:

The protagonist of this story, a foreign and enigmatic figure, arrives in Italy in 1914. Nothing she tells is true, as she is simultaneously fleeing and searching for herself. Uncertain of her goals, she dreams of being a writer, painter, or musician but ultimately becomes a film actress. Under the name Diana Karenne, she rises to fame as one of the leading stars of Italian silent cinema: the queen of silence.

In this novel, Melania Mazzucco uncovers Diana Karenne’s shadowy and multifaceted identity, pieced together through archives, libraries, and film institutes across Europe. Mazzucco recounts Karenne’s life with passion, humor, pain, and respect, showing how literature itself is the antithesis of silence.

Between 1916 and 1919, Diana was a mysterious foreigner, femme fatale, gypsy, singer, filmmaker, spy, nun, saint, countess, queen, and more. She wrote and directed her films, becoming one of the first female directors in history and later a producer. Restless and elusive, she moved across Italy’s cultural hubs, admired for her independence by women and feared by men for her unpredictability and tempestuous love affairs.

In the post-war years, the decline of the Italian film industry led her to Paris and Berlin, where she encountered exiled Russians and was forced to confront her origins. Unlike many silent film stars, her career wasn’t eclipsed by the advent of sound but by her irresistible desire to vanish and reinvent herself once more as a mystical muse and companion to a Russian poet. Nearly consigned to oblivion, Diana Karenne is revived by Mazzucco’s meticulously researched and gripping narrative, restoring her contemporary vitality.

The author:

Melania Mazzucco, an acclaimed Italian writer, holds degrees in Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature and Cinema from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She worked for years as a screenwriter and has contributed to the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani.

Her literary debut came in 1992 with the short story Seval, followed by novels such as Il bacio della Medusa (1996) and La camera di Baltus (1998), both finalists for the Premio Strega. Her 2000 novel Lei così amata earned multiple awards, including the SuperPremio Vittorini. Mazzucco won the Premio Strega in 2003 for Vita.

She has also authored radio dramas, theatrical works, and novels exploring themes like war (Limbo, 2012) and migration (Io sono con te. Storia di Brigitte, 2016). Her latest novel, Silenzio, continues her tradition of blending historical insight with profound character exploration.