Title: The Curse of the Flores WomenAuthor: Angélica Lopes, Zoë Perry
Published by: Amazon Crossing on Jul. 1, 2024
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 220
Format: Paperback
Source: Amazon Publishing, OTRPR
Book Rating: 8/10
Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting—against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family.
Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a “curse” that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control.
As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for.
Review:
Sentimental, heartfelt, and enchanting!
The Curse of the Flores Women is a fresh, captivating tale set in Brazil during 1918, as well as 2010, that takes you into the life of Eugênia, a young woman who dreads her upcoming nuptials and who uses her skills in lacemaking to share her thoughts, feelings and silent cries for help, and Alice, an eighteen-year-old girl struggling with a strained relationship with her mother who, after receiving an heirloom veil from a distant aunt, endeavours to learn as much as possible about her family history that up until now she’s known little about.
The prose is expressive and fluid. The characters are headstrong, independent, and loyal. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a charming tale of family, friendship, drama, rebellion, emotion, secrets, love, loss, duty, heartbreak, introspection, passion, tradition, and autonomy.
Overall, The Curse of the Flores Women is a compelling, evocative, illuminating tale by Lopes that was a delight to read and has just the right amount of intrigue, culture, colourful history, and palpable emotion to be a good choice for all fans of the historical fiction genre.
This book is available now.
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Thank you to OTRPR and Amazon Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Angélica Lopes
Angélica Lopes is a novelist, screenwriter, and journalist from Rio de Janeiro with over twenty years of experience in writing fiction. Her dramatic vein came from writing Brazilian soap operas, known worldwide for attracting millions of viewers daily. She is also an award-winning author of YA novels and has written scripts for cinema, TV series, and comedy shows. The Curse of the Flores Women is her first adult novel and was sold for translation in France and Italy even before being published in her native Brazil.
About Zoë Perry
Zoë Perry has translated the work of several contemporary Brazilian authors, including Emilio Fraia, Ana Paula Maia, Juliana Leite, Clara Drummond, Veronica Stigger, and Carol Bensimon. Her translations have appeared in the Paris Review, the New Yorker, Granta, Astra, n+1, and the New York Times. Perry’s translation of Ana Paula Maia’s Of Cattle and Men was awarded an English PEN grant, and she received a PEN/Heim grant for her translation of Veronica Stigger’s Opisanie swiata (Desription of the World). She is currently based in Miami.
