Reading Groups

Elsa Morante’s Lies and Sorcery with Sheila Kohler

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6 sessions Mondays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT October 20, 2025 to January 5, 2026

Online via Zoom

The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at an additional 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
10/20, 11/3, 11/17, 12/1, 12/15, 1/5
Online via Zoom

Originally published in 1948 during the Second World War, Elsa Morante’s first novel, Lies and Sorcery (Menzogna e sortilegio), was recently retranslated by Jenny McPhee with the addition of previously omitted sections. We will look at how Morante enthralls readers with both fairy tale elements as well as stark depictions of the struggle for power in this story about three generations of wildly eccentric women. The private lives of her characters reflect the growing fascism in Italian society at the time of Morante’s writing and indeed of many places today. We will divide the reading of this 800-page book into six parts looking closely at this text that has been highly praised by Elena Ferrante and Natalia Ginzburg.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Read through “Part One” of Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante in advance of the first meeting.

What to expect from this reading group: I will present the section we will have read, and then open the discussion to all who are encouraged to share their opinions freely.

Reading List:

Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler is the author of eleven novels, three volumes of short fiction, a memoir, and many essays. Her most recent novel is Open Secrets, (Penguin, 2020). Her memoir, Once We Were Sisters was published by Penguin in 2017 as well as Canongate in England and Alba in Spain. She has won numerous prizes including the O. Henry twice and been included in Best American Short Stories in 2013 and Best American Mystery 2020. Her work has been published in thirteen countries. She has taught at Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington and at Princeton since 2007. Her novel, Cracks was made into a film with directors Jordan and Ridley Scott with Eva Green playing Miss G and was recently reissued by Open Road. Open Road will republish six of her early books this year. You can find her blog at Psychology Today under Dreaming for Freud. She has been made “Writer in Residence” at the America Library in Paris for 2025.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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