Description
Cassandra and the Wolf
Book Summary
A masterpiece of modern Greek literature that explores childhood from a disturbingly lucid perspective. Through the eyes of Cassandra, a six-year-old girl living in Greece during the dictatorship of the late 1960s, the author constructs a narrative where childhood innocence collides with the cruelty and hypocrisy of the adult world. This short but intense novel addresses abuse from a psychological and deeply human viewpoint, revealing how a child's imagination can be both a refuge and a mirror to the shadows that surround her.
What is it about?
Set in Greece during the dictatorship of the colonels, the story follows Cassandra, a girl who lives semi-abandoned by her mother and is raised by her grandmother, a cook, and a servant. Through her six-year-old gaze, the protagonist observes and filters the reality surrounding her, transforming murky domestic situations and abuses into a fabulous and personal world. The novel moves between the light projected by Cassandra's imagination and the shadows of an environment marked by silent violence, abandonment, and hypocrisy. The author constructs a narrative that, without concessions, places the reader at the heart of a deeply disturbing childhood experience, where the boundary between fantasy and reality becomes blurred as a survival mechanism.
Main themes
- Childhood as a prism for adult reality and its contradictions.
- Psychological abuse and domestic violence within the family environment.
- Parental abandonment and the search for refuge in imagination.
- The Greek dictatorship as an oppressive context that amplifies domestic tensions.
- The construction of a child's identity in the face of the hypocrisy and cruelty of the adult world.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in psychological literature and narratives with child voices that explore complex realities. Especially recommended for those seeking contemporary European literary works that address sensitive topics such as abuse, abandonment, and resilience from a demanding and unsentimental perspective. Also for those who appreciate short novels with great narrative and emotional density.
What this book offers
- A unique and heartbreaking look at childhood, narrated from the voice of a girl who observes the adult world with disturbing lucidity.
- A deep psychological exploration of how imagination can be a defense mechanism against abuse and abandonment.
- A literary portrait of Greece under the dictatorship, where the political context is intertwined with domestic dynamics.
- An intense and brief reading experience, with precise language and narrative construction of great literary craftsmanship.
Data sheet
- Author: KARAPANU, MARGARITA
- Publisher: Distorsions
- Language: cat
- Subject: MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY FICTION
- Collection: DISTORSIONS
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: October 2022
- Number of pages: 200
- Weight: 200 g
Editorial review
A novel that has been recognized as an undisputed classic of modern Greek literature. Its main value lies in Margarita Karapanu's ability to maintain a child's narrative voice without falling into sugarcoating, allowing the reader to access a raw reality through a filter of innocence that does not soften, but rather intensifies, the emotional impact. It is a highly recommended work for those seeking literature that does not shy away from the darkest areas of the human experience, presented with precise, muscular prose of haunting beauty.