Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
Synopsis.
In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh’s most exciting leap yet
Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life’s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him as a baby, as she did so many of the village’s children. Ina’s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina’s home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.
Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people’s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord’s family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year’s end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, civility and savagery, will prove to be very thin indeed.
The Review
I really can’t articulate what exactly happened while reading this book. I cannot articulate my feelings.
I was not prepared.
I was not prepared.
I had only one question before picking this up and it was:
Why is Ottessa writing about medieval times?
The answer upon finishing the book is very clear.
Ottessa wanted to write something and medieval times is the perfect lens and setting for what she wanted to write. It’s almost as if she had an idea, and the setting provided the capacity for her characters to do what they did.
The setting is in other words the playground for her characters to play. It wouldn’t really work as well set anywhere else.
My reading experience was varied. It reads like an omen. I felt sickened, moved, disgusted, and at times curious and ashamed all at once. You can go all the way in and interpret the meanings in the text, or you can simply take it for what is.
This is the fourth book I’ve read by Ottessa and it is my favorite.
If you are someone who uses trigger warnings as a guide-I’d look this book up prior to reading.
I don’t recommend this to every reader. But for the right reader-this might be Ottessas’ best.
Lapvona…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio and Penguin Press for the advanced copies!
Are you planning on picking up LAPVONA?
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