Reviews

First published in Italy over 20 years ago and considered to be one of that country's important post-war novels, this narrative is a complex fabrication. Count Aleardo di Grees, a Milanese nobleman known to all as Daddo, is on a dilettantish voyage southward in search of investment possibilities when he stumbles on a tiny uncharted island off the coast of Portugal. On Ocana he shares the bleak hospitality of the ruling family, the Guzmans, who bespeak a sad history. Daddo is offended by their cruel treatment of a serving creature who at first appears to be an old woman but is actually a young iguana. Daddo's obsession with the creature ends in delusion, derangement and, finally, death. Filled with elements that may be political satire or the interplay of evil and good, with time dislocations and delusional subplots, the novel makes heavy demands on the reader, who is often directly addressed in the narrative. Still, Ortese has won virtually every major Italian literary prize. (October 23)

When young Count Aleardo di Grees sails from Milan, he chances upon an uncharted island off the coast of Portugal. The island is Ocana, said to belong to the devil. Intrigued, the Count drops anchor and is welcomed by the young Portuguese marquis who lives there. That evening, dinner is served by the family's servant, Estrellita, a ``shrunken old woman'' who is actually an iguana dressed in women's clothes, her snout hidden by a dark cloth hanging from her head. The Count is fascinated by this creature, and his fascination becomes pity, obsession, even desire. Is Estrellita indeed the embodiment of evil, as the marquis seems to believe, or is she simply an innocent beast most cruelly maligned? This strange and lyric novel, first published in Italy in 1965 and winner of the prestigious Fiuggi Prize when issued there in paperback last year, has been beautifully translated. Highly recommended. Marcia G. Fuchs, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.