Bookish Déjà-Vu: Accabadora by Michela Murgia

There is no way round it: times are and have always been changing. It’s true, however, that in some places life always seems to stay the same because people hold on to ancient traditions not seeing any need to improve anything adopting new ways. But even at the back of beyond time never stands still. New ideas and views just take root at a slower pace than elswhere allowing mores and routines to alter almost unnoticed. Thus it happens that some customs become obsolete and once perfectly natural actions are no longer socially accepted. My bookish déjà vu Accabadora by Michela Murgia evokes one of the last women in Sardinia of the 1950s who offers a century-old service to the sick and decrepit that is a serious crime according to state law. The girl whom she took in as her fill’e anima according to ancient Sardinian rules, too, is appalled…
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