Wow. And I thought I held grudge. The Shrouded Woman is this breath-taking story about a woman on her death bed. She revisits different parts of her life, sifting through memories as various family members and friends say their farewells. I don’t know what to say. It was just so beautiful.
Let’s start when she was a teenager and madly in love with Ricardo, and reflects that “we were in reality two children appalled by the consequences nature had imposed upon certain acts which we had considered nothing more than a marvelous and forbidden game” (174). Hello? Maria Luisa Bombal how dare you do this to me? And then later with her husband, Antonio. Guys it’s just too good. I hate him. He loves her, she does not, she goes away, realizes she loves him, she returns, he no longer loves her the same and which “convert[s] her timid rancor into a fixed determination of revenge” (227). They get into this whole fight, and his takeaway is “How you love me!” (228). Ana Maria is a just lover-girl deep down. And then Bombal hits us with:
“She had managed to adjust her own intense love to the mediocre love of others. Trembling with tenderness and sincerity, she often managed to smile frivolously so as not to frighten away the small amount of love that came her way. Because not loving someone too much was perhaps the best proof of love that one could give to certain people, on certain occasions,” (227)
I mean c’mon now. “…the small amount of love that came her way…”. WHO HURT YOU. At this point this blog post is just going to be a collection of quotes.
And then of course she grows petty, bitter from all this misplaced love. She doesn’t want to meet her son’s wife the beautiful Maria Griselda, (so beautiful her other daughter-in-law ends her life wtf) and her life is all sour until Sofia, Sofia, Sofia who gives her “a sentiment which one never knows solitude, as one does in love” (238) until SHE CHEATS WITH ANA MARIA’S HUSBAND (supposedly). It’s too good. Guys I’m a sucker for drama. I felt like I was watching a novella but just the last episode where all the characters you love to hate unite for the wedding/funeral finale and you’re just crying. IT’S TOO GOOD. And in the end, she dies of course. At peace, and memories are just memories and she moves on to wherever one goes at the end.
My questions: 1. Maria Luisa Bombal, how do you read my mind? Share your secrets. 2. How is this beautiful book out of print in English? Time to learn Spanish. 3. (The real one): How does gender affect how each of the character’s sorrows and regrets are portrayed? That’s about it.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LIFE.
Sofia Rocha Zandbergen
P.S. Look at me using all caps when I bullied Breton for it last week. How times have changed.
9 replies on “The Shrouded Woman (WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LIFE)”
I also felt your anger and frustration but also being completely consumed by this book. Reading I was overwhelmed by so many emotions so I totally felt this post!
Hi! I really liked reading your post. Reading the novel felt like a crazy whirlwind of emotions and drama for me too.. and I was tuned in for it the whole time. Your post captures exactly how I felt while reading!
The same way you hate Antonio is the same way I hate Ricardo. It was so annoying to me that he didn’t push to be with her. She was such a lover girl, and he was simply a man, who chose himself in the end.
Hi Sofia! I really like the style of your blog. I noticed the sorrow of her dad to her mother, and I just hate that part. He mentioned her mother a lot in front of her, making both of them immerse in the sorrow.
Hii Sofia, I totally agree with all the points you brought up in your blog. I was living for the drama in this book tbh, because in some ways it felt so real. Like sometimes life really does happen like that.
Hi Sofia! I also cannot stand Antonia and I loveddddd the drama too. I actually felt like I was reading some crazy ass story with all of these relationships and the cheating and EVERYTHING! like. Silvia killing herself bc Maria Griselda was TOO beautiful. WOW……
Hi Sofia,
I really enjoyed reading your blog! Your writing style both intrigues and hooks me in every time I search for it. I also agree with you that the story was extremely dramatic (in a good way). I look forward to hearing more from you!
Hi Sophia, interesting reflections and writing!
Is a book full of drama indeed.
“And I thought I held grudge” that definitely made me laugh!
If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to make two comments on your classmates’ blogs.
See you tomorrow!
Julián.
I completely agree! The part about her needing to tone down her intense love for others because its too much for them to reciprocate was such an striking moment in the book, and I think it perfectly describes just how minute her existence is made to feel. Such a powerful novel!