"Set in a medieval fiefdom beset by natural disasters, this addictively-paced novel presents a primal, thought-provoking exploration of structures of power, privilege and religion."
With its unique perspectives and bone-deep insights into humanity, Ottessa Moshfegh's writing never fails to amaze, and Lapvona sees her bold brilliance shine once again.
Thirteen-year-old shepherd boy Marek lives in the blighted medieval fiefdom of Lapvona, with this setting providing the brutal story-world stage to reveal humanity’s depraved underbelly – greed, corruption, barbaric imbalances between the rich and the poor, with the notion of human suffering being a virtue deployed by those in power.
Marek “was a small boy and had grown crookedly, his spine twisted in the middle…his legs were bowed. His head was misshapen”. Told by his father that his mother died in childbirth, Marek loves Ina, the blind village midlife; a wise woman with connections to nature and scared knowledge beyond that of the church. With her house in the woods underlining her liminality, Ina is a woman of miracles. The only sick person to have recovered from the plague, in her forties “sweet and creamy milk” weeps from her breasts.
Meanwhile, the village’s depraved governor Villiam literally lords over Lapvona from his lavish hilltop manor, with Father Barnabas on hand to do his dirty work. As famine and drought cause the villagers to starve, he lives to excess away from the death and violence, with Father Barnabas arranging intermittent appearances to maintain the weaponising of religion as a means of control.
As the story moves through the seasons and Marek becomes entangled to the lord, brutality and catastrophes mount, and all order is disrupted. With all the rich, brutal language and ambience of a dark folktale, this remarkable novel has deep allegorical resonance.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
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