Flower Woman

The short stories of P. Mária Pongrácz (Székelyudvarhely, 1941) reveal a great capacity for empathy and sensitivity. The stories present tragic, sometimes grotesque destinies as experienced by the characters. The characters around whom the author weaves her stories are living figures of our day or at least of our recent past, with similar problems, fears, psychological traumas, and thoughts as those we ourselves have experienced, or if not, we may have experienced in our narrower or wider environment. What makes these short stories special is the perspective through which the author presents her characters. [...] The characters are most often defined by their thoughts, their unfulfilled desires, and their longing for beauty. In the mirror of personal perception, reality and the world of desires and dreams that has become almost unreal merge, distort, and transubstantiate. The dramatic tension and tragedy are masterfully resolved by the love that seeps through the lines, with which the author controls the fate of the characters and reveals their downfall to the reader. (Magdolna Bege)