Oriana: A Novel of Oriana Fallaci, by Anastasia Rubis

When a Hollywood producer comes to Oriana Fallaci at the end of her life to propose a movie, the story unfolds of her gutsy career rise as a journalist, her tragic love, and her greatest regret.

Oriana was born a rebel. She fought beside her father at age fourteen in Italy’s Resistance against the Nazis and overcame poverty, the lack of a university education, and relentless sexism in the newsroom. By 1973, when she moved to New York, Oriana Fallaci was hailed by Newsweek as the greatest interviewer of her day. She catapulted to fame for her bold and provocative interviews with Kissinger, Arafat, Meir, Robert Kennedy, Indira Gandhi, the Shah of Iran, and other world leaders–not to mention the most prominent celebrities and artists of her day.

That same year, she did what no journalist is supposed to do: she fell in love with one of her subjects, Alexander Panagoulis, the Greek poet and hero. She was 44, he was 34; they lived in different countries. It didn’t matter. Oriana had finally found what she longed for, a full life. But can a woman ever have it all, or does life always exact a price?

Oriana is the first biographical novel about the brilliant and fearless Italian journalist whom Christiane Amanpour has called her role model–and who holds a place alongside Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters as a master interviewer. It is the story of a trailblazer who broke through the glass ceiling of journalism, a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power and who revolutionized her field, all while struggling to carve out a space for love and family.

Anastasia Rubis‘ writing has appeared in the New York Times, Huffington Post, New York Observer, Creative Nonfiction, North American Review, [PANK], Fiction International, and Literary Mama. One of her stories, “Girl Falling,” was named a Notable Essay in Best Essays of 2014. Another, “Blue Pools,” was included in the anthology Oh, Baby published by Creative Nonfiction and edited by Lee Gutkind. She co-wrote and co-directed a 13-minute documentary titled Breakfast Lunch Dinner: The Greek Diner Story on YouTube. She earned a BA magna cum laude from Brown University and an MA from Montclair State University, where she taught essay writing. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter and spends summers in Greece, where her parents were born.