Lit in Translation

Three Stories of Forgetting

A Visão das Plantas

Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida (born 1982)

Translated by Alison Entrekin

English editions

In English

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As a young man Celestino commanded a slave ship, carrying Africans from their coast to be sold in Brazil, and once crushed a revolt in the hold by pouring in sacks of lime. Now old, tattooed and sparing with words, he comes back to Portugal and settles in the house where he grew up. The neighbours know what he has done and keep their distance; only Father Alfredo calls on him, hoping to bring him to confession, while the captain wants to talk of nothing but his roses. Day after day he gives himself to the garden with a patience that unsettles those who watch him. Through this solitary figure the story weighs guilt, evil and what a life of violence leaves behind.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form
Novel
Length
88 pages in the original
Genres
Historical (assigned by AI)
Set in
Portugal
First published
2019 by Relógio D'Água
Author's age
37 when first published
ISBN

9789896419752 (original)

9780374612092 (FSG Originals, United States)