A review by serendipitysbooks
After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 

Seventeen years later Grazia Deledda became the second woman to be honoured, for “her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”. After the Divorce is set on Sardinia and the descriptions of the island are magical. Constantino is convicted and imprisoned for a murder that he didn’t commit, but accepts his fate as punishment for his marrying in a civil rather than church ceremony. His imprisonment leaves his wife Giovanna destitute, with no way of providing for herself and her family. She takes advantage of a new law to divorce him and goes on to marry a wealthy but brutish man. When the true murderer confesses Constantino is released and he and Giovanna begin an affair.

This felt rather melodramatic to me, probably a reflection of when it was written. The plot did highlight issues with the power wielded by the Catholic Church as well as the lack of power, agency and options available to women, and the way they were judged harshly regardless. I also very much enjoyed the depictions of the social interactions among the islanders and seeing how money played into them.