Diagnosed with polio at the age of six and plagued by illness and injury throughout her life, Frida Kahlo's chronic pain was a recurrent theme in her extraordinary art. In Frida's Bed, Slavenka Drakulić explores the inner life of one of the world's most influential female artists, skillfully weaving Frida's memories into descriptions of her paintings, producing a meditation on the nature of chronic pain and creativity. With an intriguing subject whose unusual life continues to fascinate, this poignant imagining of Kahlo's thoughts during her final hours by another daringly original and uncompromising creative talent will attract readers of literary fiction and art lovers alike.

Originally published in Croatian as Frida ili o boli (2007)
Translated from the Croatian by Christina P. Zorić

Penguin Books 2008

Frida's Bed will be available in the book buffet of the Bookcrossing Anniversary Convention. Enjoy reading!



Edit: In the photo there's the English language book buffet of the Mainz Convention :)

Delighted to find this on the book buffet as I have read many books by or about Frida Kahlo, since I saw an exhibition of her paintings at the Gianadda museum in Martigny. Looking at the paintings, you can feel her pain gripping at your heart.
I already started reading it and it seems to be written in a very straightforward, simple style; it's interesting to discover this Croatian author.

As far as I can make out, the original title of this, Frida ili or boli, means Frida or the pain. Frida's Bed is more catchy - but the original is more true to the book - it is as much about her wheelchair or her wooden leg as about her bed. Publishers are sometimes so insensitive.

From experience, I can say that standing in front of Frida's paintings, you can feel her pain, a woman's pain, emanating from them; you want to clutch your body, bend up double, and howl. Even now, many years later, I can still sense that suffering deep inside, so powerful are her images. And this pain - both physical and mental - does come across in the book, which concentrates on her deteriorating body - she says "disintegrating" from polio in her childhood to the dreadful tram accident where she was impaled on a metal rod, to the rotting of her limbs. But also the pain inflicted by the man she called the Maestro, Diego Rivera, who married her twice, enslaved her, betrayed her, a petulant genius she portrayed as a child in her lap.

As the author says, without the pain, there would not have been Frida's paintings. But I still want to weep for her, this magnificent woman hiding behind a mask of extravagant colour, jewellery and flowers.

Frida, putting the pain into painting.


Photo: Frida as a wounded deer.

Image: Frida wanted a child with Diego but had several miscarriages.

An aside: the publishers describe the book as a novel, yet it is more like a memoir, switching from third person to first and back again. Having read many books about Frida Kahlo, including the large collection of her letters, I think it is very close to the truth. Other books give more details about her relationship with Alex, Diego, Trotsky, and her time in Paris - and her bed.

for the meetup