Author
Luciany Aparecida
Luciany Aparecida
Luciany Aparecida is the author of Mata Doce, which won the São Paulo Literature Prize in 2024; the book was also shortlisted for the Jabuti Prize and longlisted for the Oceanos Prize in the same year. She is trained as a psychoanalyst and has a doctorate in literature. Her books include Aziri (2026) and Macala (2022), a collection of poetry that alludes to 19th-century photographs; she is also the author of the play, Joanna Mina.
Translator
Julia Sanches
Julia Sanches
Julia Sanches has translated more than thirty works of literature from Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish into English. Born in Brazil, she currently lives in Rhode Island.
Original language
Portuguese
Publishing status
Translation extract
About the book
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About the book
Maria Teresa lives with her mothers – one a teacher and the other a trans woman – in an old house in Mata Doce, a kind of quilombo (a community of formerly enslaved people, or maroons) founded by her great-grandmother. The house hosts a cast of memorable characters, including Zezito, the man Maria Teresa loves and plans to marry. That is, until the day before their wedding, a violent tragedy strikes her family, changing her life forever. We meet Maria Teresa at the age of 92, at which point she recounts to us her story and that of her non-white, matriarchal community, through speech and letters, in a polyphonic account freighted with history.
What our readers say
Fresh and original writing, sensitively translated. A book set in a world that will be little-known by English language readers, with a powerful central character who engages us immediately.
–Rachael McGill
Awards
São Paulo Literature Prize 2024
Semifinalist for the Oceanos Prize 2024
Finalist for the Jabuti Prize 2024
Rights available
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