Her Maestro's Echo: Pirandello and the Actress Who Conquered Broadway in One Evening (Troubador Italian Studies)

A unique insight into the story of the love between Italian writer Pirandello, and his muse, actress Marta Abba. Between 1925 and 1936, Luigi Pirandello wrote to the actress Marta Abba some 552 letters, a correspondence that remained enveloped in mystery for more than half a century. The letters are a splendid record of the vicissitudes of their decade-long relationship. This book grew out of the author's reflections on Pirandello's correspondence and relationship with Marta Abba, as well as his own relationship with Marta in the course of his research in the 1980s, when he was invited by Marta to edit Pirandello's letters. Over several months, the author worked side-by-side with Marta, reading and copying Piradello's letters in the bank where she kept them. Later, they would discuss and organize the copies and the rest of the materials she had at home, which included her own letters to Pirandello. This book sketches out the story of a modern romance between author and actress, between an artist and his collaborating muse, between an older man and a younger woman. It also tackles the subject of Marta's sexuality, a little-known aspect of her life.