When Sibilla Aleramo published Una Donna in 1906, it stirred immediate controversy. Infidelity, abuse, and a yearning for independence propel the story, which many believed to be autobiographical. Publishers initially rejected it—too radical, too raw—but once released, it became known as Italy’s first feminist novel. Nearly half a century later, Alba De Céspedes published Quaderno Proibito, the diary of a middle-class woman suffocating in the numbing routines of 1950s bourgeois life. Though De Céspedes resisted the feminist label, the book ignited fierce debate. For Miu Miu’s inaugural literary club—a two-day event—these two groundbreaking novels set the stage for conversations around family, motherhood, and work. Panelists include Jhumpa Lahiri, Claudia Durastanti, Sheila Heti, Viola Di Grado, Selby Wynn Schwartz, and Xiaolu Guo. —Elena Clavarino