When a Hollywood producer visits 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. This is the intriguing premise of ORIANA (Delphinium Books | March 19, 2024) by writer and journalist Anastasia Rubis, the first historical novel about the glamorous and fearless journalist whom Christiane Amanpour has called a “great mentor.”

Oriana, who holds a place beside such world-class interviewers as Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters, blazed a trail for women in the 60s and 70s. But while building a global reputation for her provocative interviews of world leaders and notorious dictators, Oriana struggled in her personal life to find love and happiness.

Born a rebel, Oriana 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. BBy 1973, due to her sheer brilliance, work ethic, and courage, Oriana was hailed by Newsweek as the greatest political interviewer of her day, famous for her confrontational interviews with Kissinger, Arafat, Meir, Khomeini, and other world leaders—not to mention the most prominent celebrities and artists of the era.

That same year, 1973, 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 forty-four, he was thirty-four; 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 tells the story—little-known in America, until now—of one of the first women to break through the glass ceiling of journalism. Dick Cavett introduced her on his television show as a “legend” and Walter Lippmann called her “the best reporter in the world.” I hope you will plan to cover this fascinating historical novel about an extraordinary figure who wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power and who revolutionized her field. I will be in touch soon to discuss the possibilities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anastasia “Stacy” Rubis’ writing has appeared in the New York Times, Huffington Post, New York Observer, and literary journals. Her short story “Blue Pools” was included in the anthology Oh, Baby, published by Creative Nonfiction and edited by Lee Gutkind. Another story, “Girl Falling,” was named a Notable Essay in Best Essays of 2014. She co-wrote and co-directed the short documentary
Breakfast Lunch Dinner: The Greek Diner Story. Rubis earned a BA magna cum laude from Brown University and an MA from Montclair State University, where she was an adjunct professor of
English. She and her husband live in New Jersey where they raised their daughter, and she spends summers in Greece, where her parents were born. Oriana is her debut novel.

ORIANA: A Novel of Oriana Fallaci By Anastasia Rubis. Delphinium Books. On sale: March 19, 2024 | ISBN 978-1953002365 | 368 pp