At last, readers who loved The Art of Joy can peek behind the scenes at a life and work already considered legendary.

Goliarda Sapienza's life as a novelist is like a novel itself. Through the passionate portrait of an extraordinary woman who spanned the twentieth century, her French translator tells the tale of how a work vibrant with fervor was born, and the highly unique publishing adventure that ensued. Nathalie Castagné recounts the many lives (activist, actress, delinquent, prisoner, and finally, novelist), deaths (prison, suicide attempts, obscurity) and rebirths (a passion for writing and posthumous triumph) of this figure who went on to become a literary and feminist icon.