‘The Shrouded Woman’ by María Luisa Bombal was a very unique and interesting read for me since it is done in a style that I’ve never seen in a book, where the main character starts off dead and tells the story of her past experiences and memories of different things and people.

One interesting thing I found about the book is how Ana Maria talks about her memories. When I think of stories most of them are told in a way that makes me think about why someone is telling the story. But in this book, Ana Maria’s memories feel more raw and true to life. This might be because she’s looking back on her life after she’s died. Almost as if she’s trying to remember and honour the complicated life she lived.

A big takeaway from this book for me is that the book is about how women are shown and how they connect with each other. Ana Maria goes through a tough time early on in her life when she has her heart broken by a guy named Ricardo. This made her feel connected to him forever, which reflects the old ideas about how women in love are always tied to their men. The book also shows Ana Maria sometimes competing with other women, like her sister, but also at the same time understanding and feeling sorry for women dealing with insecurities. It explores how, in every part of Ana Maria’s life, there’s a man who’s a big part of it, whether it’s Ricardo, her husband, or her sons. The book also talks about how society and rules affected Ana Maria’s life. Her marriage with her husband is almost like a symbol of what people thought was the social norm back in the early 1900s. It shows how women had limits and the husband was seen as the “boss”. Ana Maria struggles with this and wishes for a life where she can be more free and do what she wants.

As mentioned before, I feel like what made this book interesting is that Ana Maria is telling us about all these things after she died. It’s a very different way to tell a story, and it really made me think about life, love, and what lives on in my memory. Even though Ana Maria has passed away, her memories still shape how we see her life, and I wonder if it will be the same case for us if it ever happened.

Discussion Question:

As this book is about memory, my question is what would you consider as important memories that you would want to remember forever.