Family and correct upbringing, those are the factors to our successful future. Incorrect upbringing is our future grief, our futuretears, our blame towards other people, towards our homeland.
(Anton S. Makarenko)

In works of literature (just like in any other work of art), there is also a factor of the soul. In literature that is the factor that forever remains in sole possession of the writer, the only thing that is not prone to be copied or taken over. Petrarca wrote a sonnet which reads: ’There goes my boat full of oblivion’ – certainly one of his best sonnets, never to be bested or repeated by anyone. In it, there is such a personal and intimate spirit word about human faith, which one is unable to be replicated, or at least not in the same manner. And no matter if the beauty and the depth of thoughts described in the sonnet are something out of the most perfect in the literature of the world; still the factor of the soul in this little piece surpasses even its thoughtfulness and its metaphor.

Therefore, a good writer is the one with the most soul, and not the most spirit. Soul is unique, and the spirit is universal.
Jovan Duchic

Before you lies the novel ‘Escape from Madness’ – seventh work of prose by Milka Kajganic, a writer skilful in finding the topics that make one think. It depicts a life of a young woman and her almost superhuman tenaciousness demonstrated in numerous complicated situations, and the reader is given the opportunity to witness hardship of a fragile woman soul. Furthermore, the writer provides us, not only with a psychological profile of the heroine, but also of those who have an influence on the main protagonist. Moreover, a life is described seemingly deprived of any chance to act and make changes. A life helpless as a leaf torn off its branch. How and in what way to give the torn leaf some strength to rise is what we will find out if we follow the trail of Milka’s writing. And Milka has a very clear way of telling us about all those intertwined situations, their flow from their spring in Istria to the distant Alpine area. However, it is difficult to find shelter from harsh reality of everyday life – it simply crushes you. We need strength in order not to be crushed. And the strength of this novel is that it provides its reader with an open approach to all the situations allowing us to judge them as being correct or wrong, as well as personal.

To help us with our dilemma, the author of the novel skilfully tiles the path with love, as she knows that every soul finds its salvation from troubles, problems and madness solely in love. This is what the folk saying tells us about: ‘Don’t tie sorrow to your soul – the power of love will bring salvation’. When spoken out loud, one can hear the echo of harmony as if the words were sung by a chorus of angels. Maybe that’s why these words have almost medical proprieties – they strengthen faith and hope for a better tomorrow.

This is not an unfamiliar matter to the author. This is reflected in her writing style. She masterfully overcomes all the obstacles and follows the ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ motto. Poetic string the author Milka Kajganic possesses, which she uses to embellish the sentences quite cautiously in order to gradually adorn them with cheerfulness, unmistakably makes the reader comfortable with following her. To follow, as that is the thread of gentle story-telling: For those remaining two months of her maternity leave, Pamela managed to get rid of three more subjects, Constitutional Law being one of them. She asked her friend Marjuca to go out and buy her Family Law course book in the bookstore. ’What do you need that for, that’s in the third year?’ ’I need to study it now.’ ’Why overloading yourself with it now?’ ‘I want to know what the rights of children and parents are.’ When she returned from Rijeka, she excitedly informed her mother that she was three steps nearer the end of her studies. She packed her bags and books and slightly opened the door to check on the child. Marino was playing with rattles attached to a ribbon on the side of the bed. She took him into her arms and placed him onto her lap. He was firm enough to sit up unaided, without leaning onto his mother’s chest. ‘You really arrived in bad time. I don’t know what you and I shall do with your father. He hasn’t told his Karin that you exist. Oh, stay calm, Pamela, you need to overcome this madness,’ she encouraged herself with a sigh. Life’s not easy for her, but she knows that she has a lovely family – a family that understands her and has her back. For, a family where the members rely on each other is a foundation and a pillar of security to an individual and the society alike. The importance of family is beyond compare, and as such, it needs to be preserved – this is the message of the author of the novel. However, within any person stricken by an unwanted situation lies a desire to get rid of the difficulty. Pamela, the main protagonist of the novel, manages exactly that by fighting the odds despite numerous drawbacks which simply lined one after the other.

It is one of countless times that life proves to be a great struggle. If we want to succeed, we have to be fighters. In this struggle, the ultimate weapon is love, firm faith and hope that the injustice must be defeated, and that good people truly exist. That’s where the strength to persist comes from. ‘My son Rolf, my dear, likes your daughter. Until now, he hasn’t found a girl that he wanted to bring to our estate,’ said Rolf’s mother to Pamela’s. ‘My daughter has a son. It doesn’t suit a young man to be with a woman with a child.’ ‘It is of no concern. The boy is a lovely child. We’ve come to love him dearly.’ ‘We’ll see what the doctors recommend. She is in their hands now.’ ‘She is not in the right place,’ said Rolf, ’they say she has metal problems, but I can feel, deep inside my heart, that she is not ill. Not from schizophrenia at least. She is an educated and diligent woman, and many people don’t like such foreigners here. It was not her fault that she got fired, but of those who pushed around to reach better positions. I have worked in a state firm for a couple of years, and I was fed up with everything. I escaped here to the country side, where I may do my job in such a way that it is a pleasure to me.’ Rolf is right. The psychiatric hospital was no place for her, but… It pays to bear in mind that only good awaits those who are themselves good persons. Sooner or later. Among other things, the main characteristic of Milka’s creative stile is that she knows life, and she is aware that every individual in this world is exposed to various dangers and temptations. Her writing is saturated by sensitivity to all kinds of sadness, and the events are linked to one another which make the novel easy to read. And after the reading, once the book is closed, the reader will carry the numerous images in their mind for quite some time. The images they will always remember. Thus, it is safe to say that the author has demonstrated her story-telling skill a level above the previous one. In simple terms, her writing moves.

And, at the end of the review of ‘Escape from Madness’, I shall add to the words of Jovan Duchic and say: That the soul of Milka Kajganic is unique, and that all afore said is true is what the readers of her previous writings already know.

And the novel ‘Escape from Madness’ is the seal that confirms it all.
Zürich, 04.04.2018