The life of Amalia Guglielminetti is the classic case of an early-twentieth-century Italian woman writer who refused to adhere to traditional female roles. She chose instead to pursue, courageously and tenaciously, the career of a writer at a time when most writers were men. As a former proponent of Guido Gozzano's crepuscolarismo (twilight school)--a poetry movement that advocated a simple, forthright style of writing in response to the prolix of authors such as Gabriele D'Annunzio--she retained its sense of a disillusionment with life and a noncommital attitude toward any ideology. Although she considered Gozzano a mentor and was involved in a relationship with him for several years, she nonetheless remained a disciple of D'Annunzio and echoed his style in most of her works. His protagonists became the models for her dramatis personae, especially in terms of the recurrent figure of the femme fatale in both Guglielminetti's verse...