The Red Virgin

The Red Virgin

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The Red Virgin

Fernando Arrabal
Victimization and betrayal are frequently the themes of this Spanish writer, who saw plenty of both as a youth during his homeland's Civil War. Based on an actual case study and originally published in France in 1986, this novel examines the megalomania of an unwed woman who deliberately becomes pregnant in order to bear a child prodigy. Her daughter is educated at home in the sciences and in arcane languages so that she may pursue a kind of alchemy called The Work. The mother swells with pride as her offspring perseveres in her quest for all knowledge. But the daughter's reputation attracts the attention of researchers abroad, and when she begins to wonder if there isn't more to life than being locked up with Mom doing The Work, the inevitable confrontation occurs. A psychological and allegorical masterpiece of parental obsession, mind-control, alienation, and child abuse. Recommended for literary collections.- Jack Shreve, Allegany Community Coll., Cumberland, Md.