'Zesty' Daily Mail 'A real gem of a book' Stylist A wickedly funny tale of two rebellious sisters in 1940s Rio de Janeiro Euridice is bright and ambitious. But this is Brazil in the 1940s, and society expects her to be a loving wife and mother. While Antenor is busy congratulating himself on his excellent catch, Euridice spends her humdrum days ironing his shirts and removing the lumps of onion from his food, dreaming of the success she could have made of herself – as a writer, dressmaker or culinary whizz – in another life. Her free-spirited sister Guida, on the other hand, is the kind of person who was 'born knowing everything'. When she returns from her failed elopement with stories of heartbreak and loss, the lives of Euridice and her husband are thrown into confusion, with disastrous consequences. The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is a darkly comic debut, bursting with vibrant Brazilian spirit and unforgettable characters – a jubilant novel about the emancipation of women.
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A tapestry of Brazilian lives. In the midst of them is Euridice, an ambitious woman full of initiative and talent, born into the wrong place and time. Women in Brazil's 1950ies are meant to stay at home and take care of the kids. They're not meant to develop passions and start companies from their living room. Meanwhile her sister Guida falls in love with a deadbeat, and needs to claw her way out of poverty through sheer resilience and an unwavering spirit.
A playful and joyous novel full of charm, as it ever expands from one character to include the fates and family tragedies of others. I like the rather neat way it opened doors into all the character stories. Even if in the end there felt like too many side characters and I just wanted to return to Euridice.
