THE WOMAN WHO FORGOT TO CRY by Mihaela CD

Afterword

Even if the great thinker Coșbuc’s belief—“weeping was devised by madmen and by women…”—has stood the test of time, here we are now, facing The Woman Who Forgot How to Cry. This is Ana, the female character and protagonist of the novel bearing the same title, written by the author Mihaela CD. This is the writer’s first novel, coming after no fewer than seventeen volumes of poetry and prose that have already emerged from the gifted hand of this talented author.

Structured into seventeen suggestively titled chapters, the novel addresses itself to the souls longing for spiritual nourishment, with lines that gracefully spring from the heart of the talented feminine lyre, MIHAELA CD.

Prose writing suits Mihaela’s hand and spirit perfectly—she wields her pen with purpose, sculpting destinies onto the page.

Here are the chapter titles that shape the novel: Ana, The Dream, The Truth, The Encounter, Home, The Party, Nothing Happens by Chance, Happiness, Maria, Ionuț, The Tragedy, Mihai, Fate, Sanda, The Calamity, The Gossip, Adrian.

The poetic aura of Mihaela CD is not absent from this novel—one as heartbreaking as it is captivating—rising naturally from her soulful depths. I, too, was once given the name Ana. That’s why I resonate all the more deeply with Ana’s drive to break out of her fated enclosure by the strength of her own will. And I can say, hand on heart, that I read through the lives of the characters drawn by the novelist and lingered in them, unable to tear myself away from their stories for a long time…

When, to my regret, some daily concerns forced me to pause my reading, I awaited my return to the book with bated breath. And so, with renewed interest and curiosity, I relished every word, every line, as the pages awaited me to reveal Ana’s destiny, the ending of the novel!

Ana, the child forced to grow up too soon under the burden of responsibility, being orphaned. Ana, who did not fear work—on the contrary, work ennobled her. Ana, capable of great sacrifice, raising and protecting her siblings until they found their own place in the world and their own homes. Ana, who, for the sake of these duties, once gave up school and her dream of becoming a fashion designer.

A self-sacrificing Ana, much like the Ana in The Legend of Master Manole. Except this Ana, the protagonist of this touching novel, was not walled into a building, but into a destiny. And she is, in her turn, a builder—of souls, for she is a mother. Like the female character in The Sap from the Depths by Ioana Postelnicu, Ana confronts her fate through her own inner resources.

Reality is one of the main sources of inspiration for the gifted novelist Mihaela CD. Woven with fiction and interlaced with Ana’s dreamscapes, it forms the foundation of this novel.

The secondary characters sketch the geographic, social, and emotional landscape of the community in which the action unfolds. A collective character is also present, in the form of public opinion about Ana—sometimes favorable, sometimes slanderous, especially considering the prejudice that accused Ana of witchcraft.

Though naturally steadfast and a devout believer in family, Ana goes through three legitimate marriages—with Toader, Ion, and Mihai. Witnessing the death of all three husbands, one after the other, Ana refuses to marry Adrian out of fear of a fatal curse, though she remains his partner in life.

When it comes to the physical and psychological traits of the male characters, they are masterfully depicted by Mihaela CD, who demonstrates exceptional command of language throughout her literary endeavor. All four male figures share positive traits, though they differ in their perspectives on life, shaped by their education and abilities. A secondary character, the husband of doctor Gabriella, stands out for his elegance and generosity.

Returning to the novel’s heroine, Ana’s inner world often mirrors the natural elements: “It was drizzling softly and constantly on the pavement—raining, too, in her soul.” Visual and auditory images blend with emotional resonance. Indeed, here, in its full complexity, the word becomes sound and soul. Ana’s state of mind is suggested metaphorically: “She no longer knew whether the tiny drops trailing down her cheeks were her tears or the fine, constant rain.”

The tragic condition of widowhood is rendered with deep compassion, to the point of identification, through the power of language: “Corporal Simion Toader died in the line of duty!” A hunch, a flicker of doubt, or perhaps simply caution—these led her not to take her children to the station when awaiting Toader’s return.

Dialogue is interwoven with reflection, capturing Ana’s inner doubts and the surrounding atmosphere. Thus, the station becomes a symbol of both waiting and parting… She was alone, just as “She had learned from a young age to face everything on her own.” Orphaned of her mother at an early age, she not only learned to survive but to protect her younger siblings and her ailing father—from whom she would inherit wisdom.

To be honest, beyond the coincidence of our names, I too have lived the role of protector for my younger siblings, as our mother was ill. Fate also placed me in the mournful period of widowhood. These are just a few elements of life through which I deeply related to this novel.

Through the emotional stream of Mihaela CD’s narrative, my tears merged with Ana’s. I felt that this masterfully written novel is not just any book—it is a book of life! I was too moved by the pages of Ana’s life to limit myself to the tools of a conventional literary review. I lived this book!

Ana’s hospitalization and her harsh return to reality are portrayed with a shattering sense of tragedy, rendered through vivid images and dynamic dialogue. People and events, the competence and humanity of medical staff—true models of life conduct—are among the educational values of this novel.

Reuniting with her children brings hope and light to Ana’s soul. With vivid descriptive talent for both physical and inner human features, Mihaela paints the portrait of Toader, the man who would become Ana’s husband: “tall, handsome, with olive-colored eyes.”

Ana’s dreams mirror her life and often come true, like fiction reflecting into reality. Life’s hardships had once triggered a torrent of tears, but those same hardships steeled her, wiping the tears from her face over time… And so Ana became The Woman Who Forgot How to Cry, as the author concludes at the end of her novel, a kind of crest of destiny.

It is best for future readers to make their own journey through the worlds shaped by this novel. They will encounter landscapes, human portraits, and inner states—all emanating from the fascination of words and their power to summon the past into the present, offering it to the future.

The reflection of reality in its essential details emerges through the multilayered action of the characters. Readers will perceive the diversity of environments shaped by or shaping these characters.

Why Ana wept, and why she forgot how to cry, dear lovers of literature—you’ll discover by reading Mihaela CD’s novel. By channeling a true story through her lyrical self, the novelist returns to us, in epic form, a reality cloaked in fiction.

Ana’s dreamlike hallucinations take on a prophetic tone, spilling into everyday life.

In terms of expressive means and artistic transfiguration, the poetic expressions—what researcher and professor Dorin Ștefănescu would call “the art of inhabiting truth”—are ever present.
The features of realist fiction are evident in Mihaela CD’s novel.
The balance between truth and fiction, her personal approach to a life period, calls to mind Balzac’s A Woman of Thirty.

The characters are depicted in all their complexity, with their psychological traits shifting depending on their environment. Their actions, language, and interpersonal relationships individualize them, painted with a storyteller’s eye and a painter’s brush.

Given the dominant realist nature of the novel, the objectivity and dynamic narrative bring to mind the Transylvanian depth found in Ion by Liviu Rebreanu.

The novelist’s style reveals: “The art of knowledge, made through words, practicing diversity through reality.”

If Ana became The Woman Who Forgot How to Cry, then, dear lovers of books, I urge you: do not forget to read this fascinating novel, skillfully crafted by the writer MIHAELA CD!

ANA MUNTEANU DRĂGHICI
Member of the Romanian Writers’ League
Collaborator of the Globart UNIVERSUM Publishing House

 

 

 

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