Chapter house: a writer’s home in Milan’s historic centre

The sumptous interior of a journalist and women's activist's home reflects her own life and work

Never judge a book by its cover, as the adage goes, but can you judge a writer by her bookshelf? In Cristina Sivieri Tagliabue's case, it would be a safe bet. On her floating floor-to-ceiling shelves, among the tomes on empowerment and feminism, can be found some of the Italian journalist and activist's own.

Her study on the desire in young Italian women to have plastic surgery, her collected stories on gender equality and her political biography of Emma Bonino all sit proudly on the 11-shelf structure.