Fallaci focuses [the whole of Letter to a Child Never Born] on the child's physical presence within the heroine; the fetus as imagined from an article becomes the other main character, and is addressed throughout….

Though her tone tends to be arch, Fallaci makes the process of pregnancy marvelously vivid….

The novel neatly encapsulates the battle between an old longing that may be irresistibly instinctual, and the urge of women toward outer fulfillment, worldly success. (p. 15)

Fallaci is famous for her interviews with celebrities…. Her power is such that she could bring to heel the Duchess of Alba, with all her 63 titles, by threatening to choose another Spanish aristocrat as her subject. Fallaci never hesitates to speak freely. Ending long hours with Alfred Hitchcock, for whom, before their meeting, she had felt only a banal admiration, she said, "With all your cordial humor, your nice round face, your...