georginadean 's review for:

The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers

4.0

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‘the soul rots with boredom.’

the focal point of ‘the ballad of the sad café’ is miss amelia; an independent, headstrong woman. the town revolves around her and her actions. at first, she seems rather reclusive and lonely; she keeps herself to herself and takes no nonsense, yet all business comes from her— that is, until her 10-day marriage. in this short period of time, everything changes.

after the divorce, she is forced to be alone once again, and the trauma that came from her husband’s actions (towards the community, not towards herself) forces her to rethink her idea of love and companionship. the tough fact that people change and evolve, their attitudes always out of our own control, is a huge theme in this book. 

one day, a hunchback appears at her door, claiming to be a family member. she takes on the role of a maternal figure and cares for the hunchback, as well as opening her doors to the wider community. starting a café, she quickly progresses from the town’s enigma to the town’s glue— she holds together all relations and gives the community, for the first time, a sense of purpose.

her evolving morals and attitudes towards closeness were heart-warming to read about, which is why the ending of this novella is so incredibly upsetting. the desire to be loved; to find your people and settle down with to no qualms, sometimes outweighs your conscience. often, you can tell when something isn’t meant for you, but you go along with it anyway because you have quite gotten used to the idea; even if you know it’ll end in heartbreak.