Fiction Reviews: Monte Verità By: Daphne Du Maurier

 

Monte Verità follows the lives of three people: an unnamed narrator, his friend Victor, and Victor's beautiful wife, Anna.

The narrator, now a seventy-year-old man living in New York City, looks back on his youth. He and Victor were avid mountain climbers. The story centers on the mysterious twin peaks of Monte Verità in Switzerland, a mountain whose ominous motto is: "Nothing more is known."

Years earlier, the trio traveled to the base of the mountain. The narrator recalls wanting to carve his life's story into stone so that future generations might read it, fall in love with the tale, and understand his perspective. While staying at the bottom of the mountain, they are hosted by an old man who encourages the couple to climb it, despite local legends of terrible occurrences. According to lore, an abbey sits atop Monte Verità, inhabited by an unknown number of priestesses; local women who attempt the climb never return. Inside the abbey, time stands still, the women's beauty remains forever unchanged, and they live in eternal peace, isolated from men and society.

One morning, Victor discovers that Anna has gone to the mountain alone. Devastated and certain he will never see his loved one again, he asks their elderly host what to do. The old man cryptically replies that everything possible has already been done.

Determined to speak with his wife, Victor begins scaling the mountain. Over the years, his sheer determination allows him to establish a spiritual, non-visual contact with Anna, a practice that continues until illness confines him to his bed. During these encounters, Anna assures Victor that she has found her true place and is happy.

Later in life, the narrator survives a plane crash on Monte Verità. He asks the locals if the priestesses still exist, only to discover that the villagers are plotting to kill them. 

The narrator reunites with the dying Victor, promising his friend that he will deliver a final letter to Anna and warn her of the danger.

The narrator is eventually permitted to enter the sect. After drinking a mysterious liquid, he feels immortal. He adopts their ways—worshiping the sun and going completely naked like the others. He is temporarily kept in a chamber featuring speaking frescoes, where he momentarily forgets his mission regarding Victor.

When he regains full awareness, the narrator warns the priestesses that they are in peril. He is then allowed to leave the abbey to visit Victor one last time. Victor dies believing his wife is happy for eternity. The narrator, however, is left with less peace; he deeply regrets not having climbed the mountain with his two friends all those years ago. Ultimately, the story reveals that the abbey also serves as a secret sanctuary for disadvantaged and sick girls.