Saving the Fire: A Novel

Moises lives with his father, Mundinho, and his sister, Luzia, in Tapera do Paraguacu, a Brazilian village of farmers, fishermen, and potters of Afro-Indigenous origin, ruled from on high by a forbidding monastery. As Luzia hears whispers about her own strange powers and absorbs the threatening stares of neighbors, she seeks protection from the same Church that exploits her. When secrets buried for decades rise to the surface, Luzia finds herself alone, fighting for her piece of land, for her place in the world. Little does she know that Moises, in his own way, has put himself on the front line of an ancient battle between the oppressors and the dispossessed. Epic and lyrical, with the power to both enchant and outrage the reader, Saving the Fire shows us that the ghosts of a family's past are often indistinguishable from the shadows of a nation's history. Masterfully, Itamar Vieira Junior blends the intimate journeys of his characters with faithfully rendered elements of Brazilian life. It's a story permeated by the spectre of colonialism, the scars of which still show, and still ache.