A formidable cinematic prose with mythological resonances
Roxana Dumitrache
Ferenike is an autobiographical, mythical novel with a large cast of characters and firm subject matter.
Having as a starting point a childhood event, the novel gradually outlines experiences related to our present. Every insignificant deed has consequences, generates other events and a new perspective of the past. This premise leads to a gripping and powerful story about the discreet role that any individual has in the metamorphoses of great history.
An autobiographical novel, Ferenike is also an experiment researching confession, from its mystical to histrionic or manipulative areas, with the stated intention of reminding the world that, beyond intention, there’s always the force of the storyteller.
“What is fiction? The power of a story to send a message as far away in time as possible. In literature, it is not the story that comes first, but its power to secure the idea’s triumph: ferein nike. Ferenike.”
Doina Ruști
Into the endless world of our interwar home echoed a new and cruel time. Death and Ferenike suddenly entered my life.
Doina Rusti, Confessions
Ferenike is the name of a woman who, around 400 BC, disguised herself and participated in sports competitions where only men were allowed. In Romanian, the name is symbolic.
