Perfidia (novel)
Encyclopedia
Perfidia, published in 1997, was the last novel by Judith Rossner
, author of Looking for Mr. Goodbar
. The book's title, which means "perfidy" in Spanish
, references a the popular song by the same name. Like the song, the book deals with the issue of betrayal and details the devastating consequences of the emotional abuse that a mother inflicts on her daughter.
. The two hit the road and travel extensively before settling in New Mexico
.
Hard-drinking and promiscuous Anita strikes up a casual relationship with an aging hippie
named Wilkie. She becomes pregnant shortly thereafter and converts a derelict house into a lucrative art gallery/tourist trap. Anita later gives birth to a boy she names Billy.
The relationship between the mother and daughter becomes inexplicably strained after the birth. Anita becomes increasingly neglectful of Maddy and clearly favors her son over her daughter.
The relationship permanently sours when Anita takes up with Lion, a long-haired drug addict. Lion overdoses and young Maddy, afraid and not knowing what to do, leaves Lion alone in the house. Anita bitterly blames Maddy for his resulting death.
Anita, who has become a full-blown alcoholic (who self-righteously swears off drugs), runs through a string of boyfriends, including psychiatrist
, Ellery. She begins physically abusing Maddy as well.
Things take a violent turn in the house. Anita, depressed over turning forty, loses control of the art gallery. She is enraged by Maddy's decision to return to New Hampshire
to attend college and attempts to stab her daughter with a broken tequilla bottle. The two women struggle over the weapon; Maddy wrests it from her mother and stabs her in self-defense
, hitting her jugular vein. Anita dies from massive blood loss.
Maddy is put on trial. She opts for a trial by judge. The judge sympathizes with Maddy's plight but finds her guilty of manslaughter
. She is sentenced to four years in prison.
While Maddy is in prison, she forms a sexual relationship with her cellmate, Lucille, and begins corresponding with Ellery's semi-estranged son, Keith. (Ellery and his wife have taken custody of Billy, who wants nothing to do with Maddy.) When she makes parole
, she moves in with Keith. She gets a job against his wishes and becomes pregnant. Maddy and Keith soon break up. Buying a car, Maddy begins to travel from place to place much like Anita had in her youth. At the end of the novel, Maddy reveals that she has legally changed her name and that she has given birth to her child.
Judith Rossner
Judith Perelman Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which was inspired by the murder of Roseann Quinn and examined the underside of the seventies sexual liberation movement. Though Looking for Mr. Goodbar remained Rossner's best known and best...
, author of Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Looking for Mr. Goodbar is a 1975 novel by Judith Rossner. Rossner based the novel on the events surrounding the brutal murder of Roseann Quinn, a 28-year-old New York City schoolteacher in 1973.-References:...
. The book's title, which means "perfidy" in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, references a the popular song by the same name. Like the song, the book deals with the issue of betrayal and details the devastating consequences of the emotional abuse that a mother inflicts on her daughter.
Plot summary
The novel opens with five-year-old Maddy and her mother, Anita, leaving her father, a Jewish professor at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. The two hit the road and travel extensively before settling in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Hard-drinking and promiscuous Anita strikes up a casual relationship with an aging hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
named Wilkie. She becomes pregnant shortly thereafter and converts a derelict house into a lucrative art gallery/tourist trap. Anita later gives birth to a boy she names Billy.
The relationship between the mother and daughter becomes inexplicably strained after the birth. Anita becomes increasingly neglectful of Maddy and clearly favors her son over her daughter.
The relationship permanently sours when Anita takes up with Lion, a long-haired drug addict. Lion overdoses and young Maddy, afraid and not knowing what to do, leaves Lion alone in the house. Anita bitterly blames Maddy for his resulting death.
Anita, who has become a full-blown alcoholic (who self-righteously swears off drugs), runs through a string of boyfriends, including psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, Ellery. She begins physically abusing Maddy as well.
Things take a violent turn in the house. Anita, depressed over turning forty, loses control of the art gallery. She is enraged by Maddy's decision to return to New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
to attend college and attempts to stab her daughter with a broken tequilla bottle. The two women struggle over the weapon; Maddy wrests it from her mother and stabs her in self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
, hitting her jugular vein. Anita dies from massive blood loss.
Maddy is put on trial. She opts for a trial by judge. The judge sympathizes with Maddy's plight but finds her guilty of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. She is sentenced to four years in prison.
While Maddy is in prison, she forms a sexual relationship with her cellmate, Lucille, and begins corresponding with Ellery's semi-estranged son, Keith. (Ellery and his wife have taken custody of Billy, who wants nothing to do with Maddy.) When she makes parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, she moves in with Keith. She gets a job against his wishes and becomes pregnant. Maddy and Keith soon break up. Buying a car, Maddy begins to travel from place to place much like Anita had in her youth. At the end of the novel, Maddy reveals that she has legally changed her name and that she has given birth to her child.