100% Cotton

V.B.Z., 2014, 138 pages

After the great success of the novel The Hotel Tito, sold in tens of thousands copies in Croatia and translated into German, French, Czech, English and other languages, in which she dealt with the issue of war drama and its devastating consequences for a wartime-born generation, Ivana Bodrožić wrote 100% Cotton: fifteen excellent stories about the lives of women in the Croatian transitional society.

Each of the stories is an intimate family drama, a sweepingly nuanced insight into the dynamics of a family, that indirectly reveals a failed transformation of a society. Parents, children, husband, wives and lovers frame the micro-universe of these stories, told from the perspective of the female protagonists.

The author introduces us to her heroines in the crucial moments of their lives, seemingly everyday situations that question their identity, reshape their belief system, notions, opinions, even themselves, and create the space for silent rebellions and dangerous changes.

The destinies of these misfits show what we witness every day: an emancipation cannot go unpunished. The intimate abysses that Ivana Bodrožić opens before us can perhaps perturb us, but they guarantee an immensely enjoyable read.