Le ragazze di San Frediano (English: The Girls of San Frediano) is a 1949 novel by Italian author Vasco Pratolini

Vasco Pratolini

Vasco Pratolini was one of the most noted Italian writers of the twentieth century.Born in Florence, Pratolini worked at various jobs before entering the literary world thanks to his acquaintance with Elio Vittorini. In 1938 he founded, together with Alfonso Gatto, the magazine Campo di Marte...

.

Plot

The novel is set in Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 at the end of the second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The story follows the escapades of a Florentine mechanic, a local "Don Giovanni

Don Juan

Don Juan is a legendary, fictional libertine whose story has been told many times by many authors. El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina is a play set in the fourteenth century that was published in Spain around 1630...

," who romances several women simultaneously and secretly. His multiple relationships come to the women's attention, and they conceive a plot to punish the mechanic for his behavior.

Film adaptations

The novel has been adapted to film twice:

• In 1954, a cinematic adaptation directed by Valerio Zurlini
  Valerio Zurlini
  Valerio Zurlini was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.-Biography:During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
  
   was released. The film represented Zurlini's directorial debut, and was one of the first movies to be filmed in Florence. The 1954 film starred:
  • Antonio Cifariello as Bob;
  • Rossana Podestà
    Rossana Podestà
    Rossana Podestà is a former Italian actress.-Life:She was born in the Italian colony of Libya, where she spent her first years in Tripoli and later moved to Rome after World War II...
    
     as Tosca;
  • Corinne Calvet
    Corinne Calvet
    Corinne Calvet was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films.Born Corinne Dibos in Paris, Calvet studied criminal law at the Sorbonne and made her debut in French radio, stage plays and cinema in the 1940s before being brought to Hollywood in the 1940s by producer Hal B. Wallis...
    
     as Bice;
  • Giovanna Ralli
    Giovanna Ralli
    Giovanna Ralli is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome, 2 January 1935.Ralli won a Nastro d'Argento for her supporting role in C'eravamo tanto amati.- Filmography :* I bambini ci guardano by Vittorio De Sica...
    
     as Mafalda;
  • Marcella Mariani as Gina; and
  • Giulia Rubini
    Giulia Rubini
    Giulia Rubini is an Italian actress. She appeared in 35 films between 1953 and 1968. She starred in the film The Window to Luna Park, which was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
    
     as Silvana.
• In 2007, a television miniseries adaptation aired on Italian television
  Television in Italy
  Television in Italy was introduced in 1939, when the first experimental broadcasting began. However, this lasted for a very short time: when fascist Italy entered World War II in 1940 all the transmission were interrupted, and were resumed in earnest only nine years after the end of the conflict,...
  
   channel Rai Uno
  Rai Uno
  Rai 1 is the primary television station of RAI, the national public service broadcaster, and the most watched television channel in Italy. It was born as Rai Tv from 1954 to 1961, called Programma Nazionale from 1961 to 1979, after called Rete 1 from 1979 to 1982, then called Rai Uno from 1982 to...
  
  . This adaptation was directed by Vittorio Sindoni and starred:
  • Giampaolo Morelli
    Giampaolo Morelli
    Giampaolo Morelli is an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is particularly known for his television work; among his roles is as the titular character in the L'ispettore Coliandro series.-References:*...
    
     as Bob;
  • Camilla Filippi as Tosca;
  • Donatella Salvatico as Bice;
  • Vittoria Puccini
    Vittoria Puccini
    Vittoria Puccini is an Italian film and television actress.Puccini is perhaps best known for playing a lead role in 2003 in the Italian soap opera Elisa di Rivombrosa...
    
     as Mafalda;
  • Chiara Conti as Gina; and
  • Martina Stella
    Martina Stella
    Martina Stella is an Italian television and film actress.-Acting career:Stella made her cinematic debut at the age of 16 in 2001 in L'ultimo bacio...
    
    as Silvana.