nossa Teresa
by Micheliny Verunschk
Editora Patuá, 2014
200 pages
16×23 cm
nossa Teresa tells the tale of a miraculous little girl, who one day, giving no explanations to anyone, decides to kill herself. The effect of her death on her family, her community, and even on people outside of it, is a mixture of pagan curiosity and religious fanaticism – a general feeling that will spread throughout the book.
The story begins with Teresa’s suicide. Teresa was a thirteen years old girl whose main ability in life had been that of making silent miracles in the name of the Holy Virgin, miracles such as placing a wounded hand on a piece of glass and leaving a perfect Virgin-Mary shaped blood stain on it. Her parents had never payed too much attention to her religious tendencies, but they had let her free to experience her inner being.
In the meantime, Teresa’s spiritual father, Don Simão, had payed much more attention to her, especially after she had told him about a vision that she had: an angel told her that if she killed herself she would become a Saint and Don Simão would become the Pope. Based on this sacred revelation, he decides to help the little girl to go towards the final ecstasy, encouraging her to peacefully embrace the will of the Father.
As the story goes on, the voice of the narrator guides us through the series of revelations that take place one page after another, unveiling step by step the ambitions and the vanity, disguised as charity, that lead the actions of many of the characters involved, both in the book and – as the author suggests – in real life. The result of it all is a fascinating story. The writing is outstanding and the author surprises us with the treat of some superb linguistic choices. It’s a surprising and enlightening novel.
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«It is possible to notice, in Micheliny’s writing, some sort of lyrical inclination, the understanding of the symbolic potential enclosed inside scenes and gestures.»
Hugo Viana, Folha de Pernambuco
Winner of the Prêmio São Paulo de Literatura 2015 as best over 40 debuting writer.
Finalist of the Prêmio Rio de Literatura 2016.
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Micheliny Verunschk (Recife, 1972) is a Brazilian writer and poet. She completed a master in Literary Criticism at the Pontifical University of São Paulo and a PhD in Communication and Semiotic at the same university. She published the books of poems Geografia Íntima do Deserto (Landy 2003), O Observador e o Nada (Edições Bagaço, 2003) and A Cartografia da Noite (Lumme Editor, 2010). nossa Teresa is her first novel. She then published the Trilógia infernal (Editora Patuá 2020), a trilogy set during the Brazilian dictatorship. Her fifth novel, O Som do Rugido da Onça, won the Jabuti Prize 2022.
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