Can a woman who exists only in the imagination hold more power over a soul than the reality of the world itself?

In Jelena, the Woman Who Does Not Exist (Jelena, žena koje nema), Ivo Andrić departs from historical chronicles to explore the intimate landscape of the human psyche. First published in 1962, this lyrical novella (often presented as a triptych) describes the narrator’s lifelong haunting by a woman who appears only in fleeting moments of solitude—in a beam of sunlight, on a lonely train journey, or in the silence of an empty room.

Jelena is not a ghost, but a presence more vivid than life itself. She is the embodiment of beauty, the artistic muse, and the elusive joy that the narrator chases to escape the gray monotony of everyday existence. She arrives without warning to transform the world into something infinite and meaningful, only to vanish as soon as reality intrudes.

Through this "adventure of the soul," Andrić meditates on the nature of longing and creativity. It is a story about the lies we tell ourselves to survive the truth, suggesting that the things which "do not exist" may be the only things that truly sustain us.

Moving, poetic, and deeply psychological, this work stands as a testament to Andrić’s versatility, offering a melancholic yet beautiful reflection on the artist's eternal search for the ideal.