Carol Loeb Shloss creates a compelling portrait of a complex
relationship of a daughter and her literary-giant father: Ezra
Pound and Mary de Rachewiltz, Pound's child by his long-time
mistress, the violinist Olga Rudge. Brought into the world in
secret and hidden in the Italian Alps at birth, Mary was raised by
German peasant farmers, had Italian identity papers, a
German-speaking upbringing, Austrian loyalties common to the area
and, perforce, a fascist education. For years, de Rachewiltz had no
idea that Pound and Rudge, the benefactors who would sporadically
appear, were her father and mother. Gradually the truth of her
parentage was revealed, and with it the knowledge that Dorothy
Shakespear, and not Olga, was Pound's actual wife. Dorothy, in
turn, kept her own secrets: while Pound signed the birth
certificate of her son, Omar, and claimed legal paternity, he was
not the boy's biological father. Two lies, established at the birth
of these children, created a dynamic antagonism that lasted for
generations. Pound maneuvered through it until he was arrested for
treason after World War II and shipped back from Italy to the
United States, where he was institutionalized rather than
imprisoned. As an adult, de Rachewiltz took on the task of claiming
a contested heritage and securing her father's literary legacy in
the face of a legal system that failed to recognize her legitimacy.
Born on different continents, separated by nationality, related by
natural birth, and torn apart by conflict between Italy and
America, Mary and Ezra Pound found a way to live out their deep and
abiding love for one another. Let the Wind Speak is both a history
of modern writers who were forced to negotiate allegiances to one
another and to their adopted countries in a time of mortal
conflict, and the story of Mary de Rachewiltz's navigation through
issues of personal identity amid the shifting politics of western
nations in peace and war. It is a masterful biography that asks us
to consider cultures of secrecy, frayed allegiances, and the
boundaries that define nations, families, and politics.
General
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