<b>GUERRA E POLITICA NE “LE QUATTRO RAGAZZE WIESELBERGER” DI FAUSTA CIALENTE</b>

The novel Le quattro ragazze Wieselberger (The Four Wieselberger Girls), published in 1976 and winner of that year's Strega Prize, is the later work of Fausta Cialente, an important 20th century Italian writer. In it, autobiographical memoirs merge with accounts of the history and politics of the 'short century', in which the dramas that crossed it are analysed: imperialism, racism, wars, totalitarianism and class conflicts. Special attention is paid by the writer to the indifference and greed of the bourgeoisie of her time and the place of women in the working world. In this novel, the soul of the scholar merges with that of the chronicler. Cialente was a cosmopolitan intellectual with a very special life, characterised by frequent travel and feeling like a foreigner everywhere. Today, in Italy, there is renewed interest in this writer, whose novels have recently been republished. This essay dwells on the more non-fiction part of The Four Wieselberger Girls, analysing significant passages in which the author examines the historical situation of her time.