The Creeper

It is a story of womanhood and in no way a bestseller.

It came to me by chance just before Xmas: one of my friends gave me a bunch of books she was going to throw away as a result of some cleaning and the lack of room for them on the shelves.

The Creeper tells the story of two women, Clara and Julia, who inhabit the same house, a beautiful colonial villa in northern Spain, within a century in between. It is written by Josefina Aldecoa.

A century apart means different kind of women: one married to a wealthy older man following the current conventions and the other, the independent buying the house a hundred years later to get away from the city. Two not alike female characters yet so similar in what they struggle for…their own identity.

The narrative space, the house and park, the passage of time marked by the changes in the landscape through the four seasons, affects women and causes both moments of reflection and either reaction or despair.

I enjoyed this vintage reading very much. I found it appealing as you can notice the parallel and the counterpoint of the two women in a very rich, accurate language full of images as that of the creeper which is there for you to discover. Besides it brings nature in and therefore it has an outstanding sensory nuance which I always find delightful.

It was a MUST for me!