Honestly overall I don’t really know what I think about this book, there was a lot that I found really cool and interesting but also there was portions that were really disconcerting as a modern reader. Maria Luisa Bombal’s novel The Shrouded Woman has us confront the myriad of layers that encompass a person’s life and their interactions throughout that life. This is achieved primarily through the use of a narrator that has recently died and is ruminating on her life as her family and friends visit and subsequently lay her to rest. I thought that this was one of the biggest bright spots in the whole novel. It was an interesting subversion of a traditional narrator that allowed interesting perspectives and reflections from Ana Maria. She takes us through her life as a young girl growing up and then back through the relationships of her children and lovers. We are presented with a perspective that is inherently tied to the events and yet is disconnected which Bombal to explore the different layers of her journey to find fulfillment in her upper class life. The majority of the commentary revolves around the restrictions of life as a woman at this time and how this leads to an inability to find a contented and meaningful place in society. Her relationship with Antonio is probably the most clear example of this. Well first off we already see that her romantic life isn’t exactly great with her failed love with Ricardo. But after her rejection and subsequent marriage with Antonio things seem to be going better, after a rocky start and a little visit home it seems like Ana Maria can finally come to terms with her life. Yet turns out Antonio is a serial cheater and although he confesses his love to her in many scenes he cannot be contented with his current situation and is subsequently has a distant and unpleasant marriage for all involved. The issues that I have with this text are the seeming incongruity of the themes, subject matter, and commentary. First I would preface this by saying that it is definitely not my place to discuss feminist issues. Yet I felt that the combination of upper class characters with an emphasis on exploring the differing lenses and perspectives of her life really undercut the underlying feminist stance. I feel like without addressing the issues of class that are hidden under the hacienda system it feels like there is a hole in this story. I’m not saying that every piece of literature has to address its issues from an intersectional stance but rather when you include the theme of layers of meaning and experience I believe that a discussion of class was missing.