Among Women Only Author:Cesare Pavese Among Women Only is a powerful portrayal of self-estrangement. Pavese contrasts the way in which two women confront and solve the problem of feeling that they are intruders among their own kind. — Clelia, a successful courturiere, is born to poverty and frees herself through her work--only to find herself a stranger in both the past and present.... more » Angry and disenchanted, she has the consolation of knowing that she saved herself.
Rosetta, on the other hand, a rich socialite, while able to diagnose the sickness, cannot find a remedy. She sees human existence in terms of suffering and torture and wants, above all else, to be alone--to cut herself off from people, love and life itself.
Using fashionable post-war Turin society as a background, Pavese brings Clelia and Rosetta together--only to separate them through tragedy.« less