I had to confess the book’s allure after reading about The Shrouded Woman. The growth of female awareness occurred in last century, and this work exemplifies the rarity and specialness of feminist literature during that time period.

Maria Luisa Bombal is an exceptional writer. Her writing is both lovely and melancholy. Every point of view, every scene, every discussion strikes a chord in my spirit. In my perspective, I sympathise with the protagonist and relate with her emotional experiences in each episode, but I cannot totally agree with her. Even though we are both women, our definitions of happiness may differ.

The author gradually reveals Ana Maria ‘s background to readers from her perspective after her death. There is a youthful first love, the anguish of covertly tasting the forbidden fruit at such a young and inexperienced age, the lover who want to avoid it, and the spouse who has confusing feelings for her. These numerous traits are the root of a woman’s misery. Maria was pure and naïve when she was little. She rushed to love without reservations, yet she ended herself injured and damaged. With the passage of time, the boyfriend who understood her reappeared in her life, and she rejected and loathed him. Until she married the guy who didn’t love her, the early excitement faded into a frigid relationship that left her unhappy. In these delicate situations, I believe she was happiest when she became a mother. This novel is like Maria’s soul’s last life repeat. If there is colour, the majority of the images should be in black and white.

Maria’s spiritual requirements are shared by many women, and her maturation and past life’s fading are intertwined with her need for love. This novel transports me to a world of amazing magic and realities. The author intersperses them, and the narrative is really attractive to my emotions. The eventual decision to have the protagonist die “in death” appeared to me to be a relief as well. Mary’s disobedience is distinct; she refuses to approach God, and the dream scenario is identical to that of the Garden of Eden, where sin and greed first formed. When the protagonist of the storey is alive, he appears to be dead, but after her true death, he appears to be alive and much more beautiful and moving than before. She has the ability to thought and perceive.

Bombal authored and published the Shrouded Woman in 1938. I know from a rudimentary grasp of her past that Bombal’s emotional journey has not been easy, and this book is also a type of profile of her emotional experience as stated by the author. This unique beauty brought by the floating soul is not so easy to be discovered by us. Perhaps we can only understand Maria’s sadness after experiencing it.

Although the protagonist of the novel has a brave spirit to support her misery in this life, if she has a chance to be reborn, will she choose her life again?