I have not gotten lost in a book for a long time and this novel gave me just that feeling by making me forget all sense of time throughout the 110 pages.
Maria Luisa Bombal takes the readers through the events and thoughts that the main character/narrator goes through while laying in her coffin, covered in a shroud. Ana Maria has had a rollercoaster of a life where the gradual introduction of each of the supporting roles, such as her family members, revealed details and gave insight into her personality, morals, opinions, and thought processes. This structure was fairly odd because some chapters were a lot shorter than others and they had inconsistent length for each of them. The 1-2 paragraph chapters often left me confused and inquisitive as to what the author was directly referring to because something was just alluded to. A few things really caught my attention in the book and it was the transitions. The way that the author carried out the story and presented it to the readers was what kept me hooked the entire time. The suspense element was incorporated and built upon very well which is why I felt myself asking questions and eager to find the answers to those questions. One moment that really fascinated me was how Maria Griselda is discussed and introduced to the readers. She is first mentioned on page 183 and this character is talked about from so many different characters who share their own unique beautifully descriptive accounts throughout the book that it took a total of 18 pages until she was finally in the scene. The build-up intrigued me so much that I found myself captivated by just the vivid, intricate descriptions of this character’s beauty. A beauty so potent and entrancing that it has the unintentional ability to evoke self-actualization and enlightenment for one individual (Fred), but also pushes another to their doom (Silvia). The scene where Silvia shoots herself was a very powerful scene for it gave Ana Maria a glimpse of just how influential the mere existence of Maria Griselda was on the young, fragile minds of anxious, insecure men and women. However, regardless of all the doubtful views that were forming about Maria Griselda in my head, I still found it very liberating when Ana Maria forgave Maria Griselda when she begged her for forgiveness. After being treated as a stranger repeatedly and often meeting the eyes of others that were only filled with envy or jealousy, she finally found herself in the arms of someone who saw her for just another human being, separate from her beauty. If you find this character interesting, then I can guarantee that the book has many more compelling characters, each with their own little whims and quirks.
The complexities of the characters in the story had many different layers, each of which could be uncovered and analyzed to further understand the steps they take to reach their goals. The decisions they take are all explainable by their own specific experiences, but they may not be ethically correct at times, like when Sylvia planned a ploy where she intentionally set up a situation to test his love when faced with the beautiful Maria Griselda to test his love, in hopes of eradicating her jealousy and insecurity.
I found myself questioning whether or not I would take a step that could be seen as ethically wrong, but for the right cause? Would you?
