A review by c2pizza
The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salustio

4.0

This book made it onto my reading list because it's about the only book from Cape Verde I have access to, which helps achieve my loose goal of reading a book from every country, so I didn't have much for expectations. In fact, the title builds intrigue for limitless drama and suffering, revelries that make me no better than the men of Serrano, which is bound to lead to disappointment unless the book is really, really good. Well, the book is really, really good. Not only does it deliver the juicy details of the town's inhabitants, but it weaves a handful of themes very creatively. Themes including the uncertainty and fragmentations of one's own thoughts, the pitfalls of male ego, and not at all charming simplicity of country folk (it's great to see the tropes of simple country folk being wise, kind, thoroughly good people get revealed as, oftentimes, hollow, and it's especially gratifying to see as someone who has lived in the country and knows that those tropes are nothing more than pandering to get simple people to hand over their money... but I digress).

All in all, this was better than a lot of books I've read that have tens of thousands more readers on this site (I'm the 14th person to list it as read, what a hipster accomplishment!)