This collection is difficult to summarise in a single sentence. It unfolds as a series of biting caricatures that expose the absurdity and cruelty of the stereotypes imposed on women. Told in a darkly satirical style, the stories shine a harsh, unsettling light on gender dynamics. Each vignette centres on a different female character, who is often reduced to an exaggerated trait or social role, and follows her towards an ironic and frequently harsh ending. The voice remains cold and detached, and at times shocking, with a form of humour that deliberately unsettles. It is deeply disagreeable yet undeniably funny to read.
“There are lots of girls like Mildred, homeless, yet never without a roof – most of the time the ceiling of a hotel room, sometimes that of bachelor digs, of a yacht’s cabin if they’re lucky, a tent, or a caravan. Such girls are bed-objects, the kind of thing one acquires like a hot-water bottle, a travelling iron, an electric shoe-shiner, any little luxury of life. It is an advantage to them if they can cook a bit, but they certainly don’t have to talk, in any language. Also they are interchangeable, like unblocked currency or international postal-reply coupons. Their value can go up or down, depending on their age and the man currently in possession.”
Content
The Hand / Oona, the Jolly Cave Woman / The Coquette / The Female Novelist / The Dancer / The Invalid, or, the Bedridden / The Artist / The Middle-Class Housewife / The Fully Licensed Whore, or, the Wife / The Breeder / The Mobile-Bed Object / The Perfect Little Lady / The Silent Mother-in-Law / The Prude / The Victim / The Evangelist / The Perfectionist.