(naturalists), who wrote in the late nineteenth century. An engrossing and moving story, the novel is a psychological tour de force, which analyzes the life of a Sicilian aristocrat forced to choose between his passion for a beautiful peasant woman and the demands of a moribund social structure that preclude his marrying below his station. Attempting to resolve the dilemma, he makes a decision that leads to a life tortured by jealousy, guilt, and self-recrimination.

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