The ancient traditions of Sardinia feature heavily in this early collection. The stories collected in The Queen of Darkness, published in 1902 shortly after Deledda’s marriage and move to Rome, reflect her transformation from little-known regional writer to an increasingly fêted and successful mainstream author. The two miniature psycho-dramas that open the collection are followed by stories of Sardinian life in the remote hills around her home town of Nuoro. The stark but beautiful countryside is a backdrop to the passions, misadventures and injustices which shape the lives of its rugged but all too human inhabitants.
Circa l’autore
Graham Anderson was born in London. After reading French and Italian at Cambridge, he worked on the books pages of City Limits and reviewed fiction for The Independent and The Sunday Telegraph. As a translator, he has developed versions of French plays, both classic and contemporary, for the NT and the Gate Theatre, with performances both here and in the USA. Publications include The Figaro Plays (Beaumarchais) and A Flea in Her Ear (Feydeau). For Dedalus he has translated Sappho by Alphonse Daudet, Chasing the Dream and A Woman’s Affair by Liane de Pougy, This was the Man (Lui) by Louise Colet and The Woman, This Man(Elle et Lui) by George Sand. His translations of Grazia Deledda’s short story collections The Queen of Darkness and The Christmas Present were published by Dedalus in 2023. He is currently translating Marianna Sirca by Grazie Deledda for Dedalus
His own short fiction has won or been short-listed for three literary prizes. He is married and lives in Oxfordshire.