A Place to Live and other selected essays of

A Place to Live presents the singular womanist voice of Natalia Ginzburg, one of Italy's greatest 20th-century writers. Known for the clarity and forthrightness of her vision, Ginzburg gave voice to the despair and renascent hope of postwar Europe. In this unique collection, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, one of America's most distinguised contemporary novelists, shares with us her passion for Ginzburg, through her selections, translations, and inspired introductions.

NATALIA GINZBURG (1916–91) is recognized as one of the foremost Italian writers of the twentieth century, and one of the most eloquent and incisive commentators on postwar Italy. Her works include novels, stories, essays, plays, and a biography of Alessandro Manzoni.
LYNNE SHARON SCHWARTZ is the author of fourteen works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as the widely acclaimed memoir, Ruined by Reading. Her first novel, Rough Strife (1981), was shortlisted for a National Book Award and a PEN/Hemingway First Novel Award, and her Leaving Brooklyn (1989) was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. She won the 1991 PEN Renato Pogglioli Award for her translation from the Italian of Smoke Over Birkenau, by Liana Millu. Schwartz is a native and current New Yorker.