Hmm… I have lots of thoughts on this novel but am not sure exactly where to start. I think it’s safe to say that this piece touches on a question we’ve all spent some time thinking about: where do we go when we die? I’ll be honest, when I read the description of The Shrouded Woman, I thought it sounded a little cliché and potentially not all that interesting. Let’s face it, this is a topic that has been a little overdone in many forms of media. I’m not going to name specific examples, but there’s definitely a number of TV show, movies, and books that all touch on this question with their own, often tacky twist on it.
Bombal’s novel, in my opinion, avoids these tasteless aspects and instead offers an insightful glimpse into life after death. Her carefully woven, heart-wrenching recounting of the narrator’s life makes it hard to look away or feel like she’s using death as some kind of novelty to pull readers in. What I liked about this novel was how it felt truly real and raw in the way that it portrayed love. There are many quotable lines that I could cite here, but I particularly liked one on page 247: “how difficult it is to love as one should”. I mean, yeah. Bombal really demonstrates how complex and confusing loving someone can be, and how it never quite happens the way you expect it to.
Also, I now realize the title of my blog may have been a little misleading, but I do want to touch on Fernando briefly, simply because his character amused me. There are a few moments in this novel that I find ridiculous in an over the top kind of way, and Fernando is one of these. I just find it morbidly funny that while every other character is, to some degree, dancing around their true feelings and keeping secrets, Fernando is out here confessing that he wasn’t bothered in the slightest by his wife’s suicide and didn’t even visit her grave. He expresses his love for Ana Maria in such a bold, explicit manner, even as she rejects him, which I have to respect him a little for. Maybe we could learn something from him (but probably not, he’s got his own issues).
This novel managed to be simultaneously off-putting, in its vivid descriptions of a dead body looking at out the world and its intense emotional moments, yet also comforting, in the closure (if you could call it that) that is ultimately found in the face of death. The narrator doesn’t necessarily have some profound final realization, but she does come to view the people and events of her life with renewed clarity, and perhaps is able to understand them each a little better in her passing. Maybe there are some things which only make sense in death, which is perhaps a naive thought, but a comforting one nonetheless.
My question- did you like the way Bombal described the world from a dead woman’s perspective and did it make you at all uncomfortable?
I really enjoyed reading this post! I had a similar reaction when reading this book; I too found it to be surprisingly comforting and extremely quotable. To answer your question, I personally did not too uncomfortable when reading this from the perspective of a dead person. This may just be a personal take though. Instead, weirdly enough, I think this made me feel more comfortable than if it has been told from the perspective of a live person who was dying. I am not sure why this is though!
Hi, Kendra! Thank you for your post; I enjoyed reading it!
Regarding your question, I enjoyed reading from the perspective of a dead person. This is odd for me since I enjoy mystery, yet being dead and retrieving memories isn’t all that …mysterious. In the sense that you know what comes next, there isn’t much of a buildup. However, this might explain why I felt so at ease reading the book. It was entertaining and refreshing.
Great Post!
To answer your question, I was a bit confused at times when it is the perspective of a dead person. I would say I was uncomfortable when I was reading it, when the perspectives tend to get jumbled up. However, I did enjoy reading the book!
Hello, I really enjoyed your post and the title. To answer your question, I really enjoyed Bombal’s use of a dead woman as a protagonist. I thought it avoided all those overused cliches in the media (as you mentioned), while also allowing the reader more freedom to make their own conclusions on all the characters and their relationships with Ana-Maria. Since she is dying the whole novel is about her somewhat detaching from her past self which means though her feelings colour our perceptions the protagonist can overcome them faster than we can. Which allows us to choose how we view each character. For example, though Ana-Maria ultimately dissolves her hatred and feels nothing for Antonio I still hate him.
Hi hi!
I loved reading your post. I think you touched on a lot of good points around Ana Maria and this whole concept of “what’s after death”. As for your question, it was definitely a mixture of confusion, sympathy, tragedy, and a bit of an uncomfortable aspect. I can’t be the only one startled by the many injustices the women in the novel experience. For people beyond Ana Maria, I think the experiences of Maria Griselda, Silvia, and Anita were so heartbreaking to read about. Hearing about how they lost themselves because of the men in their lives was heartbreaking. Also about Fernando, was I the only one kind of confused about how Ana Maria saw him? Like she didn’t love him the same way he did, but she liked the feeling of being loved by him.
Nice post! To answer your question, I liked it and thought it was comforting to think that there could be some sort of consciousness after death.
“The narrator doesn’t necessarily have some profound final realization.”
Yes, this is probably true, but as you also point out she has lots of smaller realizations (which are often, as you also say, quite quotable) that help put her mind–her soul?–at rest, while there is still time.