Una hábil curandera, viuda y madre, decide librar a varias familias de sus hijas pequeñas o recién nacidas, pues éstas, según ella misma, serán sólo una carga en medio de la miseria que los rodea en las islas griegas. Un infierno de pesadillas insomnes, sonámbulas y alucinadas atenazará a una conciencia desesperada en medio del hermosísimo paisaje, una conciencia que apenas puede sobreponerse a las pulsiones más graves que una realidad extrema arroja sobre la existencia. Esta historia es un tratado sobre el ser humano, sobre su capacidad para superar el peso de una realidad miserable y oprimida, transido por la angustia de existir y por la imposibilidad de ninguna justicia, divina o humana.

318/50-Πόσο τραγική ιστορία? Πόσο άδικο να χαθεί ένας τόσο καλός άνθρωπος ? Γιατί Θεέ μου? ( )

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"Whatever she had done, then or now, she had done it all for the best"
By sally tarbox on 8 January 2017
Format: Paperback
Short (127p) but powerful read, following an elderly woman staying with her daughter and her sick newborn granddaughter. She thinks back over her life, a slave to her father then her husband , the fight to make ends meet, the struggle to get a dowry together for her daughters, without which they'd remain old maids. And the pain of losing her sons - two emigrated and were never heard of again, one is in prison... Isn't it better for everyone if her daughter is disencumbered of this new arrival?
But Hadoula's logic means she keeps going, seeking to 'help' other families cursed with daughters, culminating in an exciting and beautifully written tale. Bringing the scenery of the Greek Islands to life (the author was a native of Skiathos), this is simply written but most compelling. ( )

The setting is so exotic, and even the multiplicity of names, as to be almost distracting, but the story is engaging while at the same time having a strong sense of inevitability. This is perhaps part of what the European novelist and critic Gabriel Josipovici (disclosure: for whom I do www.gabrieljosipovici.org) means when he said (as reported on the back cover), "It is books such as The Murderess which remind us of the miraculous nature of fiction." ( )