<p>In 1996, Ignazio Silone, one of the most beloved folk heroes of the Italian Left, a novelist and a high-ranking Communist Party member, was unmasked as a secret supporter of the Fascist movement. The discovery sparked a highly emotional response among scholars and the press in Italy and beyond, with reactions ranging from debate to disbelief.</p><p>Elizabeth Leake's fascinating study provides a new analysis of Silone's fiction based on the discovery of his double life. Drawing on a psychoanalytic approach, the author re-reads Silone's novels in the light of his inevitable struggle with his own duplicity. Enriched by extensive and original archival research, <I>The Reinvention of Ignazio Silone</I> also raises complex theoretical issues about authorship and audiences and about the relationship between text and context.</p><p>Beautifully written and passionately argued, this work will appeal to a wide readership, including those interested in the history of the left and in literary criticism, as well as scholars of Italian history, literature and politics.</p><p>Winner of the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Publication Award for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies, presented by the Modern Language Association of America.</p>