Rene Karabash’s debut novel, She Who Remains, was originally published in Bulgaria in 2018 and released in English translation in 2024. The novel is a work of literary fiction that draws on the real-world tradition of sworn virgins in the Balkan region. Set in a remote Albanian village, the story centers on a young woman named Bekija, who lives under the strictures of an ancient patriarchal legal code known as the Kanun. To escape a forced marriage and certain death after a forbidden romance, Bekija takes a vow of lifelong chastity to live as a man, adopting the name Matija. This decision saves her life but triggers a destructive blood feud, forcing her to choose which man in her family must be condemned to death to uphold the code of honor.

Written by the acclaimed Bulgarian actress and writer Irena Ivanova under the pen name Rene Karabash, She Who Remains received significant critical acclaim. The novel won the Elias Canetti National Literary Award, one of Bulgaria’s most prestigious literary honors, and was shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize. It has since been translated into more than a dozen languages, and a film adaptation is in development. The narrative uses a fragmented, poetic structure to explore its central themes, including The Burden of Family Honor, Identity Rewritten by Survival, and The Repression of Queer Desire.

This guide refers to the 2024 Sandorf Passage edition of the English translation of the novel by Izidora Angel.

Content Warning: The source text and guide feature depictions of death, illness, mental illness, sexual content, sexual violence, graphic violence, pregnancy loss, child death, physical and emotional abuse, child abuse, disordered eating, self-harm, gender discrimination, antigay bias, animal cruelty and death, and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

In a remote Albanian village governed by a collection of ancient patriarchal laws called the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, a girl named Bekija grows up under the shadow of her father Murash’s disappointment. Murash desperately wanted a son, a desire that colors Bekija’s childhood and drives her to excel at men’s work, earning the nickname “daddy’s boy.” A year after Bekija is born, Murash’s wife finally gives birth to a son named Sále. He grows up and is seen as weak and effeminate, drawing their father’s scorn. Murash comes to favor Bekija over Salé, though Bekija lives in fear of her father’s destructive temper. Bekija also grows up experiencing chronic abdominal pain, which teaches her to fear pain and tell lies to avoid the possibility of being punished.

Bekija’s only solace is her secret summer romance with Dhana, a girl who visits from Bulgaria. Their bond deepens in the seclusion of the local water mill, where Dhana reads books to Bekija, who remains illiterate throughout her life due to the Kanun traditions. This idyllic connection is shattered when Murash arranges for Bekija to marry a man named Nemanja. Shortly before the ceremony, Bekija and Dhana have a passionate sexual encounter at the village dairy. Fearing the consequences, Bekija convinces herself that she was sexually assaulted by a village man, burying the secret of her intimacy with Dhana. She nevertheless feels trapped, knowing the Kanun dictates that a bride who is not a virgin must be killed by her groom. When Dhana learns of Bekija’s impending marriage, she begins writing a letter in which she professes her love and offers Bekija a life with her in Bulgaria, forgetting that Bekija is dependent on others to read for her.  

Faced with certain death on her wedding night, Bekija makes a drastic choice. She invokes a provision of the Kanun that allows her to become a sworn virgin, a woman who takes a vow of chastity to live as a man, thereby gaining a man’s rights and freedoms. This decision cancels the wedding but deeply insults Nemanja’s family, triggering a blood feud. According to the law, a man from Bekija’s family must die to restore the groom’s honor. Murash presents Bekija with a black armband and forces her to choose who will be marked for death: himself or Sále. In a moment of panic and perceived betrayal, Bekija ties the armband on Sále. Later that same night, Dhana brings her letter for Bekija, but gives it to Sále to pass on to her. Feeling betrayed by Bekija’s choice to sacrifice him, Sále keeps the letter and flees, effectively condemning their father. Murash accepts his fate, dons the black armband, and is subsequently shot and killed by Nemanja’s brother near the wild pomegranate trees. Following her father’s death, Bekija completes her transition, cutting her hair, burning her dresses, and adopting the male name Matija.

For 16 years, Matija lives an isolated life, her only companions being her cow, Nura, and her father’s pigeons. The arrival of a female journalist, who is interested in documenting the story of the last sworn virgin in the region, forces Matija to confront her buried past. Since Matija cannot read, she asks the journalist to read aloud a series of letters she has received over the years from Sále. In his letters, Sále recounts his escape and new life as a dancer in Sofia, Bulgaria, but he is haunted by guilt. He reveals the secret he has kept for many years: He saw Bekija and Dhana together at the dairy, which also explains why he stole Dhana’s letter instead of giving it to Bekija. Dhana now also lives in Sofia, which Sále learned after seeing her. Sále’s final letter to Bekija includes the long-withheld missive from Dhana. Devastated by the revelation of a life she could have had, Matija burns her family photos and letters, packs her grandmother’s blue dress and white patent leather shoes, and leaves her village for Sofia.

Upon arriving in Sofia, Matija reunites with a remorseful Sále. The reunion is cut short when Matija collapses from excruciating abdominal pain and is rushed to the hospital. There, surgeons make a shocking discovery: The source of her lifelong stomachaches is a fetus in fetu, the calcified remains of a parasitic twin she had absorbed in the womb. Matija had unknowingly carried the remains of her male twin for 33 years, the remains of the son her father always wanted. Sále contacts Dhana, who rushes to the hospital. Seeing each other after so many years, Matija and Dhana finally clear up the misunderstandings that kept them apart. They confess their undiminished love and spend a night together in the hospital bed, rekindling their relationship.

The following morning, however, Matija awakens to find Dhana gone. She has left a farewell letter, which Sále reads to her. Dhana explains that she is leaving that day for a writer’s residency in England and feels that the weight of their shared trauma and the indirect deaths they caused makes a future together impossible. Crushed, Matija sees no future for herself in Sofia or anywhere else. She returns to her abandoned home in Albania, takes off the dress and shoes, and puts back on her male clothing. Feeling her life is a pile of ashes, she takes a rope into the cowshed, intending to die by suicide.

As she prepares the rope, she is interrupted by the bellowing of her cow, Nura, who has gone into labor. At that moment, Dhana appears in the doorway. Having changed her mind, she has followed Matija back to the village. She finds Matija on a small stool, holding the rope to assist in the delivery of a newborn calf. Steam rises from the small, wet animal as its mother licks it clean. Dropping their pretenses and the weight of the past, the two women wordlessly embrace. They watch as the calf stumbles to its feet and begins to suckle, marking the possibility of a future they can finally build together.