by Federigo Tozzi

Born in Siena in 1883, Federigo Tozzi grew up in an atmosphere of parental abuse, the victim of a violent father. His mother, a deeply religious and longsuffering woman, educated her son as best she could, given the opposition of her husband, only to die suddenly, leaving her 12-year-old boy under the tutelage of his father. In part to escape the oppressive atmosphere at home, Tozzi frequented the local library from the age of 15, reading literary, philosophical, and psychological texts and keeping abreast of the latest cultural trends in such journals as the Revue Philosophique (The Philosophical Revue). He fell in love with a young woman, Isola (thought by some to be the reallife inspiration for Ghìsola), only to find her pregnant with another man’s child. Shortly before this discovery, the author had begun an epistolary exchange with...