The Passion According to G.H.

Lispector’s most provocative and unforgettable novel.

The Passion According to G.H. (1964) follows G.H., a privileged sculptress in Rio de Janeiro, whose ordinary life is upended in a single moment. When she enters her maid’s room, she encounters a cockroach crawling from a wardrobe. Panic grips her. She slams the door, crushing the insect, and watches it die—a simple act that sparks a profound spiritual and existential crisis.

As the novel unfolds, G.H.’s confrontation with the tiny creature leads her into a journey of self-examination, mortality, and the limits of perception. The story builds to a final scene—one of the most shocking in Brazilian literature—that captures the raw, disquieting intensity of Lispector’s vision.

Lispector herself claimed that of all her works, this novel “best corresponded to her demands as a writer,” a testament to its daring exploration of consciousness, morality, and the boundaries of human experience.