The Merciful Women (1998)

by Federico Andahazi

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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210	5	130,487	(3.47)	10
This work brings a twist to the traditional vampire story, with opium and erotica providing the background for a literary novel of grand themes - sex, and literature.

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English (3) Spanish (1) Portuguese (1) All languages (5)

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What if?
What if what Federico writes about was true. Can you believe that? lol
Interesting plot, great language use, and style. (

)

ygifford | Jul 8, 2019 |

What if?
What if what Federico writes about was true. Can you believe that? lol
Interesting plot, great language use, and style. (

)

ygifford | Jul 8, 2019 |

An interesting twist on the story of the how The Vampyre and Frankenstein came to be written. Andahazi manges to write a satirical, gothic novel that is both gripping and funny. He takes the tale of Lord Byron, Mary Shelly, and Lord Byron's pathetic secretary John Polidori, who compete to write the scariest gothic story, and weaves a story about literary inspiration, lust, mediocrity and ambition. He imagines a strange and perverse origin to all of these stories, that lays bare a writer's ambition and horror of failure. A well written, charmingly strange and perverse story. I look forward to reading more of this author's work. (

)

lesleyap | Feb 11, 2009 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Federico Andahazi	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Manguel, Alberto	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Gallimard, Folio SF (161)

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Canonical title

The Merciful Women

Original title

Las piadosas

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1998 (original Spanish)

2000 (English: Manguel)

People/Characters

John William Polidori (doctor)

Annette Legrand

Lord Byron

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Important places

Villa Diodati, Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland

Switzerland

Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

All biographies are a system of conjectures;
All critical evaluations
A bet against time.
Systems can be changed
And bets are often lost.
Julio Cortazar

Dedication

First words

The clouds were black cathedrals, tall and Gothic, about to topple at any moment on the city of Geneva.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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Original language

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This work brings a twist to the traditional vampire story, with opium and erotica providing the background for a literary novel of grand themes - sex, and literature.

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