Family Drama and Relationships: The Shrouded Woman

What may come across as a mysterious book, told from the perspective of a ghost, is a beautiful exploration of a woman’s life and her relationships told in a very interesting way. The Shrouded Woman by Maria-Luisa Bombal is a modernist text that seeks to push the boundaries of what a novel is and who it can be told by.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is probably my favourite yet. Something about juicy family drama and interesting chronology gets me going. The novel follows the life of Ana Maria, told through her relationships with specific people as they come to visit her casket. She must confront all of these people in order to free herself from the mortal world and to be able to be at peace. There are so many characters in this, quite short, novel that I ended up having to make a mind map in order to remember her relation to all of the characters. Even if there were a vast amount of people and relationships explored in the novel, I felt I knew all of them as I read. Bombal took the time to explain each character’s motivations and temperament so the reader could understand who they were. In turn, this character explanation allows the reader to understand the themes and messages Bombal is conveying.

In life, we forge connections with many different people, whether they are our family members, closest friends, or fast friends we only know for six weeks. Bombal explores what all of these relationships mean to us. The insanity of love, the thin line one can walk between love and hate, the fulfilment of friendship and the relationship between child and mother to name a few. All of these relationships are equally important in someone’s life. Bombal uses extremes to investigate the impact of love and hate. One of those extremes is when Silvia, Ana Maria’s daughter-in-law, shoots herself in front of everyone because she believes her husband is in love with Maria Griselda, her sister-in-law. This all-encompassing, crushing love and jealousy is not only shown in Silvia but in Ana Maria as well. She is jealous of her husband and how he makes love to other women, but also with her first love Ricardo. She is jealous of his new wife, Sofia, yet becomes fast friends with her when she meets her. Female friendship is shown to be more fulfilling than marriage, even if their friendship ends in betrayal. Although, it is revealed there is no betrayal in the end.

Bombal does a fantastic job exploring the depth of our everyday relationships. My question to you is which relationships in your life do you hold dearest? Who would you have to approach in death to be able to finally rest?

And on that heavy note, I am out!

Thank you for reading,

– Len ❤