Orphaned on the Hillside

Dora Idesová's life is upended when, as a young girl in the remote Moravian hills, she discovers her mother murdered and her father absent, leaving her and her disabled brother Jakoubek in the care of their formidable aunt, Surmena. The trauma of this event is compounded by the villagers' whispers: Dora's family is marked by misfortune, and her mother was a "goddess"—a folk healer in a matrilineal line stretching back centuries. The children's new life is one of hardship, secrecy, and the ever-present shadow of their family's reputation. Dora's childhood is shaped by grief, isolation, and the mysterious traditions of the goddesses, setting her on a path to uncover the truth behind her family's suffering.

The Secret of the Goddesses

Žítková's goddesses are women who possess knowledge of herbs, healing, and divination, passed down through generations. Dora, under Surmena's tutelage, becomes an "angel"—a guide for those seeking the goddesses' help. She learns the rituals, the importance of secrecy, and the delicate balance between faith and skepticism. The goddesses' art is both revered and feared, attracting desperate clients and the suspicion of authorities. Dora's world expands as she witnesses the unique power and vulnerability of these women, realizing their practices are both a source of community strength and a target for persecution.

Surmena's Shadow

Surmena, Dora's aunt and guardian, is a formidable presence: a healer, a survivor of war, and a woman marked by her own tragedies. She is both mentor and protector, teaching Dora the ways of the goddesses while shielding her from the darker aspects of their legacy. Surmena's life is a testament to resilience, but also to the cost of being different in a world that fears what it cannot control. Her relationship with Dora is complex—filled with love, discipline, and unspoken pain. Surmena's past, including her own children and the enmity with other goddesses, looms over Dora's quest for understanding.

Dora's Search for Truth

As an adult, Dora becomes an ethnographer, determined to document the history of the goddesses and, by extension, her own family. Her research is both personal and professional, driven by a need to make sense of her childhood and the suffering of the women who raised her. She delves into archives, interviews witnesses, and confronts the official narratives that have painted the goddesses as charlatans or enemies of the state. Dora's investigation is haunted by doubts about Surmena's past, the nature of the goddesses' power, and the possibility of a curse that has doomed her lineage.

The Archive's Cold Embrace

Dora's journey leads her into the labyrinthine archives of the Czech state, where she uncovers files detailing decades of surveillance, denunciation, and persecution of the goddesses. She learns that Surmena was not a collaborator, but a subject of relentless investigation by both Nazi and Communist authorities. The files reveal a web of informers, betrayals, and official paranoia, as the state sought to eradicate the goddesses' influence. Dora is confronted with the reality that her family's suffering was not just the result of superstition or bad luck, but of systematic oppression by those in power.

Curses and Inheritance

A persistent theme in Dora's life is the belief in a curse placed on her family by Mahdalka, a powerful and malevolent goddess who was Surmena's sister. This curse, rooted in jealousy and betrayal, is said to doom the women of their line to suffering, barrenness, and violent ends. Dora struggles to reconcile this superstition with her rational, scholarly outlook, but the evidence of tragedy in her family is hard to ignore. The curse becomes a metaphor for the intergenerational trauma and the inescapable legacy of the past, shaping Dora's identity and her relationships.

The Witch-Hunters Return

The goddesses' persecution is not confined to the distant past; it is revived in the 20th century by both Nazi and Communist regimes. Nazi researchers, obsessed with Aryan mysticism, study the goddesses as relics of ancient Germanic priestesses, while simultaneously threatening them with extermination. After the war, Communist authorities view the goddesses as reactionary, subversive elements, subjecting them to surveillance, denunciation, and psychiatric abuse. Dora's research uncovers chilling parallels between the witch trials of old and the modern state's methods, revealing how fear and power conspire to destroy those who are different.

The Burden of Family

Dora's life is defined by her relationships—with Surmena, Jakoubek, and the memory of her mother. She is torn between loyalty to her family and the need to forge her own path. The responsibility of caring for her disabled brother, the guilt over Surmena's fate, and the unresolved trauma of her parents' deaths weigh heavily on her. Dora's attempts at intimacy and love are fraught with shame and secrecy, as she struggles with her sexuality and the fear of repeating her family's mistakes. The burden of family is both a source of strength and a chain she cannot break.

The Price of Healing

The goddesses' art is a source of healing for many, but it comes at a cost. Their knowledge of herbs, rituals, and the human psyche is both a blessing and a curse, attracting those in need and those who would destroy them. The line between healing and harm is thin—some goddesses, like Mahdalka, use their power for vengeance or personal gain. The community's reliance on the goddesses is matched by its readiness to turn on them when things go wrong. Dora comes to see that the price of healing is often paid in isolation, suspicion, and, ultimately, sacrifice.

Betrayal and Surveillance

Dora's research uncovers the extent to which the goddesses were betrayed by those around them—neighbors, clients, even family members. The state's network of informers infiltrates every aspect of their lives, turning trust into a liability. Surmena's downfall is orchestrated by a particularly zealous informer, Švanc, whose personal vendetta and ambition lead to her incarceration and death. The betrayal is not just political, but deeply personal, as Dora realizes that the very people who sought the goddesses' help were often the ones who denounced them. The legacy of surveillance leaves scars that cannot be healed.

The Madness of Surmena

Surmena's final years are a harrowing descent into madness, or what is labeled as such by the authorities. Accused of illegal healing and subversion, she is committed to a psychiatric hospital, subjected to electroshock therapy, and denied contact with her family. The official narrative is one of mental illness, but Dora's research reveals a calculated effort to silence and destroy a woman who refused to conform. Surmena's suffering is emblematic of the fate of many women who challenged the boundaries of their society, and her death marks the end of an era.

The Last Goddess Falls

With Surmena's death, the line of goddesses is broken. Dora, though a scholar and inheritor of their legacy, does not possess the knowledge or the will to continue the tradition. The last of the goddesses die out, their secrets lost or scattered. The community moves on, and the memory of the goddesses fades into folklore and rumor. Dora is left to grapple with the meaning of this loss—whether it is a liberation from superstition or the erasure of a vital part of her culture. The extinction of the goddesses is both an end and a beginning.

The Curse Unraveled

Dora's investigation into the curse that haunts her family leads her to confront the power of belief—both its destructive and redemptive aspects. She learns that the curse is as much a product of human malice and fear as of supernatural forces. The tragedies that befell her family are rooted in real acts of betrayal, violence, and systemic oppression, but also in the stories people tell about themselves and each other. Dora's journey is one of self-discovery, as she seeks to break the cycle of fear and reclaim her agency.

The Legacy of Silence

The silence that surrounds the goddesses—their secrets, their suffering, their knowledge—is both a shield and a prison. Dora's work as a scholar is an attempt to break this silence, to give voice to the women who were silenced by history. Yet she is also confronted by the limits of what can be known or said. The legacy of the goddesses is fragile, threatened by forgetfulness and distortion. Dora's own life is marked by the tension between remembering and moving on, between honoring the past and forging a new future.

The End of the Line

Dora's family, once central to the tradition of the goddesses, is decimated by violence, madness, and the relentless pressure of history. The curse, whether real or imagined, is fulfilled in the extinction of the line. Dora's own life is marked by loss—of family, of love, of the possibility of children. The end of the line is both a personal tragedy and a symbol of the broader erasure of women's knowledge and power. Yet in documenting this history, Dora asserts a measure of control over her own story.

The Scholar's Redemption

Dora's final act is to write the history of the goddesses, to bear witness to their lives and deaths. In doing so, she seeks redemption—for herself, for Surmena, and for all the women who suffered in silence. Her scholarship is an act of resistance against the forces that sought to erase the goddesses from history. Through her work, Dora finds a measure of peace, even as she acknowledges the limits of what can be restored. The act of writing becomes a form of healing, a way to transform pain into meaning.

The Circle Closes

As Dora's research comes to an end, she is confronted by the cyclical nature of history—the return of old fears, the persistence of trauma, the possibility of renewal. Encounters with descendants, the discovery of hidden truths, and the echoes of ancient rituals suggest that the story of the goddesses is not entirely over. The circle closes, but it also opens onto new possibilities. Dora's legacy is uncertain, but her refusal to be silenced ensures that the memory of the goddesses endures.

The Weight of Memory

The novel ends with a meditation on memory—its burdens, its gifts, and its dangers. Dora, the last link in a broken chain, must decide what to carry forward and what to let go. The story of the goddesses is a story of survival and loss, of the power of women and the violence done to them. In the end, Dora's greatest act is to remember—to refuse the erasure of her family and her people, and to insist that their stories matter.

Characters

Dora Idesová

Dora is the protagonist, orphaned as a child and raised by her aunt Surmena in the isolated hills of Žítková. Marked by trauma, loss, and the weight of her family's reputation, she becomes both a participant in and a chronicler of the goddesses' tradition. As an adult, Dora is driven by a need to understand her past and the suffering of the women who raised her. She is intelligent, skeptical, and deeply empathetic, but also burdened by guilt and a sense of alienation. Her relationships—with Surmena, Jakoubek, and her own sexuality—are fraught with shame and longing. Dora's journey is one of self-discovery, as she seeks to break the cycle of fear and silence that has defined her family.

Surmena (Terézie Surmenová)

Surmena is Dora's aunt and the last great goddess of Žítková. She is a woman of immense strength, both physical and spiritual, who survives war, loss, and relentless persecution. Surmena is a healer, a keeper of ancient knowledge, and a protector of her family, but she is also marked by her own traumas and the enmity of other goddesses. Her relationship with Dora is complex—she is both mentor and mother, demanding and loving, secretive and self-sacrificing. Surmena's downfall at the hands of the state is a testament to the dangers faced by women who refuse to conform.

Jakoubek (Jakub Ides)

Jakoubek is Dora's younger brother, born with severe disabilities. He is a source of both love and pain for Dora, representing the vulnerability and helplessness of their family. Jakoubek's dependence on Dora shapes her life, limiting her freedom but also giving her a sense of purpose. His innocence and suffering are a constant reminder of the family's curse and the cost of survival in a hostile world.

Mahdalka (Josefína Mahdalová)

Mahdalka is Surmena's sister and a powerful, malevolent goddess who becomes the antagonist of the family. Driven by jealousy and a sense of betrayal, she places a curse on her own kin, dooming them to suffering and barrenness. Mahdalka's knowledge of black magic and her willingness to use it for harm set her apart from the other goddesses. Her legacy is one of fear, destruction, and the perpetuation of trauma.

Fuksena (Marie Pagáčová)

Fuksena is Mahdalka's ward and intended successor, a woman of great beauty and power who becomes entangled with Nazi researchers. Her relationship with Friedrich Ferdinand Norfolk leads to the birth of a child and, ultimately, to her violent death. Fuksena's fate is emblematic of the dangers faced by women who possess knowledge and agency in a world that seeks to control them.

Jindřich Švanc (Heinrich Schwannze)

Švanc is the state security agent whose personal vendetta and ambition lead to the downfall of Surmena and the destruction of the goddesses. A man of shifting allegiances, he serves both Nazi and Communist regimes, using his knowledge of the local community to betray and persecute those who do not conform. Švanc's actions are motivated by resentment, opportunism, and a desire for power, making him a symbol of the machinery of oppression.

Irma Gabrhelová

Irma is one of the last surviving goddesses, a woman of great wisdom and resilience. She serves as a source of information and comfort for Dora, sharing stories of the past and helping her make sense of her family's legacy. Irma's death marks the end of an era, but her memory endures in Dora's work.

Baglárka (Alžběta Baglárová)

Baglárka is Dora's godmother and a key figure in the community, serving as a bridge between the old ways and the modern world. She is both supportive and evasive, reluctant to reveal the full truth about the family's past. Baglárka's memories and silences are crucial to Dora's quest for understanding.

Janigena

Janigena is Dora's secret lover, a woman whose own life is marked by hardship and secrecy. Their relationship is fraught with shame, longing, and the fear of discovery, reflecting the broader themes of forbidden knowledge and the cost of difference. Janigena's presence in Dora's life is both a source of comfort and a reminder of the impossibility of escape from the past.

Friedrich Ferdinand Norfolk

Norfolk is a German academic and SS officer who becomes fascinated by the goddesses, viewing them as relics of ancient Aryan priestesses. His research is both exploitative and admiring, and his relationship with Fuksena is marked by both passion and detachment. Norfolk's work contributes to the persecution of the goddesses, even as it preserves a record of their existence.

Plot Devices

Interwoven Timelines and Documents

The novel employs a complex structure, weaving together Dora's personal narrative, historical documents, archival reports, and testimonies from various characters. This mosaic approach allows the reader to piece together the story alongside Dora, experiencing the uncertainty, doubt, and revelation that define her quest. The use of official documents—police files, psychiatric reports, Nazi research, and personal letters—serves to highlight the ways in which history is constructed, manipulated, and erased. The interplay between past and present, memory and record, is central to the novel's exploration of truth and trauma.

Foreshadowing and Superstition

The motif of the curse—placed by Mahdalka and believed by generations—serves as both a literal and symbolic plot device. Omens, superstitions, and rituals foreshadow the tragedies that befall the family, blurring the line between fate and self-fulfilling prophecy. The tension between rational explanation and supernatural belief is a driving force in Dora's journey, forcing her to confront the power of stories and the limits of knowledge.

Persecution and Surveillance

The novel draws explicit parallels between the historical witch trials and the modern machinery of state surveillance and repression. The goddesses are hunted, denounced, and destroyed by both religious and secular authorities, their knowledge recast as subversion or madness. The omnipresence of informers, the manipulation of evidence, and the use of psychiatric institutions as tools of control are recurring devices that underscore the vulnerability of those who challenge the status quo.

Generational Trauma and Inheritance

The sins, secrets, and sufferings of previous generations are visited upon the present, shaping the lives of Dora and her family. The inheritance of trauma—whether through blood, story, or social structure—is a central theme, explored through the motif of the curse, the repetition of violence, and the struggle to break free. The novel interrogates the possibility of agency in the face of overwhelming historical forces.

Metafiction and Self-Reflection

Dora's role as both character and chronicler allows the novel to reflect on its own processes of storytelling, memory, and erasure. The act of writing—of assembling the fragments of the past into a coherent narrative—is presented as both an act of healing and a form of resistance. The novel questions the possibility of ever fully knowing or representing the truth, but insists on the necessity of trying.

Analysis

The Last Goddess is a sweeping, multi-generational novel that uses the story of the Žítková goddesses to explore the intersections of gender, power, and history in Central Europe. Through the lens of Dora's personal quest, the book interrogates the ways in which women's knowledge—of healing, community, and the self—has been systematically marginalized, persecuted, and forgotten. The novel draws powerful parall

Last updated: May 5, 2025