Women

Janina lies in a forest glade, wearing a wreath of cornflowers and singing words she invents as she goes. When Janusz arrives on horseback, their conversation becomes a contest of wit, attraction and pride. Her account moves between the warmth of the woodland and close scrutiny of her own motives. She describes the wish to attract him alongside an insistence on understanding herself, giving this novel an intimate, questioning first-person voice.

A later visit introduces a woman who devotes hours to lessons, takes pride in reading several languages and plans a trip to Algeria. The household also includes girls learning embroidery, whose work supplies their benefactor's linen. Through conversations and observations of gesture, dress and manner, the narrator explores how women present themselves and what society expects of them. Readers interested in inward reflection and social observation will find both in these scenes of courtship, learning and charitable ambition.