What an unpromising start for a novel: the death of the protagonist in the very first chapter! It looks as though the story is over before it has any chance to begin.
A reader encounters Archduchess Marianne at a turning point in her life, brought about by a nearly lethal illness during Holy Week in 1757. Her biographers have commonly attributed her symptoms to pneumonia. Yet after the acute phase of her illness, her spine began to curve – a development that hardly fits that diagnosis. Tuberculosis, another explanation favoured by some biographers, may deform the bones, but it did not fully convince me either.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to consult a professor of pulmonology, whose suggested diagnosis was lung empyema. In an acute inflammatory process (which may well begin as pneumonia), fluid accumulates between the lung tissue and the inner surface of the chest, forming a thick mass that, in severe cases and without appropriate treatment, may deform the posture and cause respiratory difficulties and stomach pain. Indeed, over the years Marianne’s appearance was described as ‘humpbacked’, and her digestive troubles, frequent cough and shortness of breath were repeatedly mentioned in her contemporaries’ correspondence.
Alongside the case she is about to investigate, her experience of grave illness becomes the parallel force that triggers Marianne’s psychological transformation.
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