Martha Freud’s unwritten autobiography/ Autobiografia não escrita de Martha Freud
“This is a novel about historical figures, but not a historical novel, in the sense that it seeks to follow, reconstruct and come as close as possible to reality, compelling itself to rely above all on interpretation (which makes them visible) and to reduce fantasy (which would ‘betray’ them) to an absolute minimum. Despite the inevitable subjectivity of everything that is written, it aims to be ‘objective’, because it is grounded in documents.
Since Freud has always had a voice and Martha was, until 2011, silenced and reduced to the stereotype of wife, mother and housekeeper, uncovering her ‘real’ personality interested me no less than that of the famous, complex and multifaceted man in her life. Indeed, in this case, fame is beside the point: the substance of the book is the dialogue between two people, equally important, who continually seek, find and lose one another.
It is possible that, for the reader (as it was for me at first), both figures may turn out to be very different from what one might expect. I do not see this as a loss, but as a surprising revelation.”
Teolinda Gersão
reviews
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“Teolinda is one of the great figures of contemporary Portuguese literature and possesses the force of a hurricane; when combined with an extreme delicacy, this gives us the portrait of a woman born of her own contradictions and, over the course of twenty books, nourished by them.”
LUCIANA LEIDERFARB, EXPRESSO
“Based on a meticulous investigation of the intimate correspondence between Martha and Sigmund Freud (more than 1,500 letters), the novel rescues a historically erased figure and gives her voice and life. A life situated in the nineteenth century that resonates in a disturbingly contemporary way with the condition of women today, affirming that both voices have an equal right to be heard.”
MOVIMENTO DEMOCRÁTICO DE MULHERES“The Unwritten Autobiography of Martha Freud gives voice to an autonomous and patient first person, in search of her ‘self’, through a fragmented, deliberately subjective, and intensely (self-)critical journey.”
CRISTINA NOBRE, JORNAL DE LEIRIA
“This is a book that should be known by everyone, whether familiar or not with Freud’s theories. (…) The novel can be read as a thriller (…) With its poetic and compelling language, the book urgently deserves a Brazilian translation.”
DÉCIO TORRES, JORNAL DA TARDE (SALVADOR, BRAZIL)“The book is based on more than 1,500 letters exchanged between Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays, documents that serve as raw material rigorously analysed by the author, who reads them in depth, interpreting silences, gaps and subtexts.”
CLEBER FRANCISCO ALVES, DIÁRIO DE PETRÓPOLIS, BRAZIL“The recent novel The Unwritten Autobiography of Martha Freud is the golden key to a central theme in Teolinda Gersão’s work. (…) After the 25 April Revolution, no other author has devoted herself so consistently to feminine/feminist writing.”
MIGUEL REAL, JORNAL DE LETRAS
“Martha Freud, long eclipsed by the shadow of her husband (…) this approach may be seen as a form of historical reparation.”
MATTEO PUPILLO, PROFESSOR SORBONNE UNIVERSITY, PARIS“Teolinda Gersão’s magnificent The Unwritten Autobiography of Martha Freud (…) a daringly original work in both subject and form, giving voice to a woman no longer invisible and silent.”
DARLENE J. SADLIER, INDIANA– BLOOMINGTON, USA“The novel is not diachronic; time is compressed and expanded according to the will of a writer with long-proven mastery.”
LUÍS SERRANO, AS ARTES ENTRE AS LETRASConsidered one of the best books of the year in VISÃO (11.12.24) and EXPRESSO
“This could be described as a political gesture: a novel that rescues Martha Bernays.”
VISÃO
“A remarkable ‘autopsy’ of the Martha–Sigmund couple. A remarkable book.”
JOSÉ GAMEIRO (psychoanalyst), EXPRESSO
“The novel impresses through its meticulous attempt to access the most intimate dimension of Martha Bernays’s life.”
SÉRGIO ALMEIDA, JORNAL DE NOTÍCIAS“The Unwritten Autobiography of Martha Freud” (Porto Editora) addresses the relationship between the founder of psychoanalysis and his wife, ‘silenced and reduced to the stereotype of wife, mother, and housewife.’A difficult and fascinating subject, which I recommend even before having read this novel based on the letters they exchanged.”
JOSÉ MIGUEL JÚDICE, EXPRESSO (online)“More than revisiting Freud, the book proposes an innovative gesture: rescuing Martha as the subject of her own history.”
JOÃO CÉU E SILVA, DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS
Martha Freud’s Unwritten Autobiography is an intimate and sophisticated novel that explores memory, identity and the female experience with great literary depth. In this work, Teolinda Gersão confirms her ability to transform inner experience into literary material of the highest aesthetic and human quality.HELENA SACADURA CABRAL
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Urbano Tavares Rodrigues Prize – FENPROF (Winner), 2025
Grand Prize for Novel and Novella – APE(Winner) 2024
Best book of the year in PortugalSPA Award – Portuguese Society of Authors (Finalist) 2024
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Autobiografia não escrita de Martha Freud
«Este é um romance sobre personagens históricas, mas não um "romance histórico", na medida em que pretende seguir/reconstituir/aproximar-se o mais possível da realidade, obrigando-se a usar sobretudo a interpretação (que as torna visíveis), reduzindo ao mínimo a fantasia (que iria "atraiçoá-las"). Apesar da subjectividade inevitável de tudo o que é escrito, procura ser "objectivo", porque alicerçado em documentos.
Uma vez que Freud sempre teve voz e Martha foi até 2011 silenciada e reduzida ao estereótipo de esposa, mãe e dona de casa, descobrir a sua personalidade "real" não me interessou menos do que a do homem célebre, complexo e multifacetado da sua vida. Aliás, neste caso a celebridade não importa, a matéria do livro é o diálogo de duas pessoas em igual medida importantes, que mutuamente se procuram, encontram e desencontram.
É possível que para o leitor (como no início para mim) as figuras de ambos se revelem muito diferentes do que esperaria. O que não considero uma perda, mas uma revelação surpreendente.»
Teolinda Gersão