The daughter of a pharmacist, born in Mantua in 1872, Amalia
Moretti Foggia has one great dream: to study, to learn, to gain knowledge
in order to help others. From an early age she is a determined,
eager girl who, with stubbornness and tenacity, makes her dream come true:
to graduate and become a doctor.

In pages written in a nimble style that you devour one after
another, Petronilla reveals herself, tells her story: her life, her
family, her studies, her joys and her misfortunes. She reveals to us
that from 1926 to 1947 it was none other than she who stood behind Doctor Amal, who
signed practical medical advice and tips for readers in "La Domenica del Corriere"
(of course, the advice of a woman doctor would not have been taken seriously by public opinion in
those days), and behind Petronilla, the bourgeois cook who in the
same publication signed recipes of simple preparation (a woman who cooks, on the other hand,
is accepted in every era).

Reading the story of Petronilla is like reading a
novel. There are many voices that speak in different tones and moods,
building a fully rounded character. A feminist ante
litteram, our Petronilla, whose personal experiences have been
intertwined with those of other great women of her time: Sibilla Aleramo,
Ada Negri, Anna Kuliscioff.

A book about feminine strength, the vigour of ideas and of
will. An exemplary glimpse into the world of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, which the authors have succeeded in conveying to their fullest.
This book is worth reading, to enter
Petronilla's world, to get to know a woman. A great woman. The
older ones will remember her articles, cut out and
kept in notebooks. The younger ones will have the opportunity to
get to know a great woman. All of them will be able to learn from her a
small but precious secret: "Be the mistresses of your own lives!".