El albergue de las mujeres tristes.

• Author: Mujica, Barbara

Marcela Serrano's El albergue de las mujeres tristes is reminiscent of the Renaissance pastoral novel, in which aristocrats disguised as shepherds and shepherdesses seek refuge in bucolic surroundings from the tribulations of love and the pressures of the city. In Serrano's novel, women weary of hardship and conflict seek refuge in the albergue de las mujeres tristes, inn for sad women, on the island of Chiloe, where they console themselves and each other and seek to replenish their energies. While the albergue accepts women of all backgrounds, the most prominent characters in the novel are upper middle-class professionals; they include a historian, an economist, an actress, a journalist, and a politician. All feel rejected by men. All--even the most beautiful and successful--feel unloved and in some way inadequate. The protagonist, an attractive young historian, is coping not only with amorous complications but also with the cancer of her younger sister, Dulce, who eventually dies.

The early pastoral features dialoghi d' amore, dialogues of love, in which each character expresses a different attitude toward the erotic. Some characters defend love as divinely inspired, others as a biological necessity, others as a pleasure, while still others--the desamorados--reject love altogether. Likewise, Serrano's characters articulate diverse opinions on men, marriage, commitment, sex, and children. The masculine point of view is presented by Flavian, the local doctor, who left Santiago for the island after a sticky separation. Angry, bitter, hurt, and vulnerable, Flavian at first lashes out against Floreana, then recognizes the injustice of his position and backpedals. The male character provides balance by showing that in the war between the sexes, men as well as women suffer and fall victim to manipulation.

The Renaissance pastoral usually revolves around a wise-woman (recurrently named Felicia), who resolves the characters' problems through the use of potions or spells. In Serrano's modern version, psychiatry has replaced magic. Elena, owner of the inn, is a therapist who works with her "guests" to restore their self-esteem and help them to learn to cope with life's demands. A wealthy and well-connected woman, Elena has at...