Italian women who write fantasy literature have no female models to draw from. Hipkins (Italian, University of Exeter, UK) explores how this causes them to create their own literary space but
also how the male-dominated field can intimidate. Despite strides in social and legal equality, Hipkins points out that women may still feel enclosed by feelings of inferiority when compared to
male writers. She examines the work of three twentieth-century authors, Paola Capriolo, Francesca Duranti and Rosanna Ombres to demonstrate how they use the fantastic to redefine and address
the male literary tradition. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
