The Mother Figure in Petra Hůlová’s Stepmother and Mira Marcinów's Queenless

Abstract The goal of this article is to analyze the mother figure in Macocha [Stepmother, 2014] by Petra Hůlová (born 1979) and Bezmatek [Queenless, 2020] by Mira Marcinów (born 1985). The enthusiastic reception which both novels received—in the Czech Republic and in Poland, from reviewers and readers—confirms an unflagging interest in the subject of motherhood understood broadly. With reference to feminist criticism, I will therefore look at the (step)mother figure as well as her relationship with her children, particularly with her daughters. Of further interest is the aspect of women's mourning in the context of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Finally, I will investigate whether the linguo-stylistic layer in these novels is itself an expression of the search for one's own female voice.