Mramorna koža
The novel, written in the first person, describes the complex, distant relationship between a sculptor (the narrator) and her mother. The main characters are the sculptor, a beauty mother obsessed with purity and bodily blemishes, and a stepfather, who en
The story begins in the present: a sculptor models a marble sculpture of her mother's body called "Marble Skin", a symbol of the cold and emptiness beneath the surface. The mother, after eight years of separation, sees the photo in a magazine and attempts suicide, forcing her daughter to return and take care of her. Through memories, we discover the past: a childhood without a father (who committed suicide when her daughter was three), the mother's obsession with cleanliness (her first period and bra as traumas), the arrival of her stepfather when the daughter is 14. The stepfather sexually abuses her daughter, and the mother ignores this, choosing him over her daughter, which gives rise to hatred, love and jealousy.
The climax is an emotional conflict: the daughter fetishizes her mother's body, feels like an extension of it, but wants to destroy it. The encounter after years remains superficial - about health and money, not about pain. The daughter recalls her mother's men, puberty, and attempts to "touch" her mother through art and the senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing). The mother, obsessed with youth and afraid of aging, is herself a victim of trauma.
Themes include the female body as a source of harm and lust, incest and abuse, maternal unreturnability, the shame and guilt of growing up into a woman, and the destructive power of sexuality. The novel is claustrophobic, sensual, with an emphasis on silence and the unspoken, exploring how trauma shapes identity.
Jedan primerak je u ponudi
