Bruna is a young woman who seems to have everything she wants- job and sentimental luck. She falls in love with a sailor Frane. They get merried. They move into a second floor of his family house, just above his widowed mother.
Two years later, Bruna would end up in prison for murder of her mother-in-law. She 'll spend next twelve years in prison. She gets out as middle-aged and notorious woman. After coming back in Split, she reflects what happened, when and why things went wrong.
If The Crime and Punishment is a crime novel, then this novel is, too. But, there is no detection here, and we perfectly know who is the murderer. Importat thing is not who, but: why? …Pavičić writes about the world he knows deeply and thoroughly.
Teofil Pančić, Globus
Most interesting and most impressive Pavičić's novel…
Božidar Alajbegović, Lupiga
Compexity of this novel, atmosphere and meticolous psychologization of the main female, and all the other characters, make Woman From the Second Floor a truely outstanding novel. It's a novel written by a writer in his most mature phase, writer who found a formula how to write a novel which is intriguing, deep, and full of suspense at the same time.
Jagna Pogačnik, Jutarnji list
Pavičić dosen't rise a moral index, does not distribute bigger or smaller quantities of guilt... he paints it's figures while leting them to develop and grow... Pavičić had found a proper tone for a novel which leaves a long-lasting impression.
Petra Lohrmann (Gute Literatur)