New Books Network 156 Recall This B-Side #1: Merve Emre on Natalia Ginzburg’s “The Dry Heart”
Sep 18, 2025
Merve Emre, an Oxford professor and acclaimed author, dives deep into Natalia Ginzburg’s haunting novella, The Dry Heart. She provocatively opens with the question, "When should a woman kill her husband?" and explores the novella’s unique approach to suspense, where endurance outweighs mystery. Emre highlights Ginzburg's stark yet powerful prose that mirrors suffering, drawing intriguing parallels with writers like Ferrante. Additionally, she recommends other neglected gems, making a compelling case for why these stories deserve a place in contemporary literary discussions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Murder Reveals Motive, Not Mystery
- Natalia Ginzburg opens The Dry Heart by revealing a murder and uses that reveal to explore motive rather than suspense.
- The novella reframes suspense from who dies to how much suffering drives a person to kill.
Personal Fascination With Dark Fantasies
- Merve Emre admits she was captivated because she has sometimes fantasized about shooting her own husband or other people's husbands.
- That personal admission framed her fascination with Ginzburg's stark opening scene.
Novella Form Mirrors Reexamination
- The novella form suits Ginzburg's technique of giving away the end and then returning to expand motive and context.
- Emre argues that recurrence in the novella mirrors the B-side practice of reexamining neglected works.
