Born in a small Sicilian village and orphaned at age nine, Modesta spends her childhood in a convent raised by nuns. Through sheer cunning, she manages to escape, and eventually becomes a princess. Sensual, proud, and determined, Modesta wants to discover the infinite richness of life.

Goliarda Sapienza (1924-1996) was born in Catania, Sicily in 1924, in an anarchist socialist family. At sixteen, she entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome and worked under the direction of Luchino Visconti, Alessandro Blasetti and Francesco Maselli. She is the author of several novels published during her lifetime. L'Arte Della Gioia is considered her masterpiece.

Anne Milano Appel, Ph.D., a former library director and language teacher, has been translating professionally for nearly twenty years. Her translation of Giovanni Arpino's Scent of a Woman (Penguin, 2011) was named the winner of The John Florio Prize for Italian Translation (2013).