IL VENTRE DI NAPOLI E ALTRE STORIE | 2005 | MATILDE SERAO

Il ventre di Napoli e altre storie is a 2005 edition gathering journalistic-literary writings by Matilde Serao, with Il ventre di Napoli as the core work. First published in 1884, Il ventre di Napoli is a powerful social investigation of late-19th-century Naples, marked by poverty, urban decay, epidemics, and struggle for survival. Serao uses vivid descriptions, moral urgency, and direct criticism of political neglect. The edition e altre storie adds supplementary short pieces, emphasizing the breadth of Serao’s prose, her verismo orientation, her ability to portray both squalor and human dignity. This volume functions both as literary classic and socio-historical document, illuminating the life of the lower classes and the relationships among poverty, environment, institutional failure.