Summary of Accabadora
“Accabadora” tells the story of Maria Listru, a poor girl growing up in Sardinia in the 1950s. She is adopted as ‘daughter of the soul’ by Bonaria Urrai, an elderly seamstress who takes her into her home and offers her a future. Yet there is something enigmatic about Bonaria. Bonaria is in fact an accabadora — a woman who performs a form of ritual euthanasia for those who request it, helping the dying and the terminally ill to pass from life to death. Within the village, this practice is regarded as an ancient and compassionate custom. When Maria discovers the truth, she is unable to accept it and leaves Sardinia for Turin. Years later, when Bonaria herself falls ill, Maria returns to care for her, forced to confront the moral and emotional complexities of love, life and death.
Reasons to read Accabadora
“Accabadora” is a powerful and deeply moving novel about adoption, euthanasia and the tension between tradition and modernity against the backdrop of mid-twentieth-century Sardinia. Michela Murgia was one of the most important contemporary Sardinian writers. “Accabadora” won several Italian literary awards, including the Premio Campiello, the Premio Supermondello and the Premio Dessì.
Setting: Sardinia (Italy)
“Accabadora” is set in Soreni, a fictional village in Sardinia (likely situated in the Barbagia region of central Sardinia), and Turin.
Original title: Accabadora
Year of publication: 2009
Nr of pages: 208
