The Marquise
Jácome Correia was born in Ponta Delgada on 31 March 1919 into a wealthy
aristocratic Azorean family. With a childhood dominated by an ultraconservative
mother, she grew up almost left to herself and, very early, she clung on to a
hopelessly doomed marriage. From then on, Margarida’s life was a constant
laboratory of the oddest human experiences, shrouded by the veil of an exotic,
fantastic and cosmopolitan romanticism.
Author: Margarida Victória Borges de Sousa Jácome Correia
hesitated a lot before publishing her autobiography. She was a woman who had
suffered deeply, chained to a society of ruthless prejudices. She dedicated her
book to distressed and frustrated beings. She advised “Have the courage to
sever your bonds to the environment you live in if it does not suit you. Follow your destiny. The essential is to
fulfil yourself.”
My thoughts: Where do I
begin? What a memoir! This is one of the most disturbing true stories I have
ever read. It's a phenomenal account of a lady who went through numerous dramas
in her life, but who never lost the faith in her capacity to overcome the
challenges that life reserved for her.
This is the
story of the Marquise Jácome Correia, known as Margarida Victória who has been raised in a very conventional way in a noble family where there
was very little love. Her family raised her with such strict beliefs and weird
ideas. She went to a boarding school in Switzerland, was forced into a
psychiatric institute as a mentally unbalanced person, lived in Egypt and the
USA. She married a several times and finally found her soul mate later in
life.
I loved this
book of confessions written with great lucidity and courage. The writing is
fluid and without pretensions. Its tone is conversational, very intimate, frank
and terribly poignant. I read it twice in 2013 and 2015. At each reading I was
overwhelmed by emotions. I am grateful to this lady for having written her
testimony. She is inspiring in many ways. In 2010 Bertrand published a new
edition, the two volumes in one book. Within a few weeks the book was sold out.
While on vacation, I went to almost every Bertrand bookstore in Lisbon. The day
before my departure I found a copy of this new edition. I have translated the synopsis of the book
in my words because this book has not been published in other languages. For those
who are fluent in Portuguese, I urge you to discover this poignant story - 464 pages of pure joy.