The Girl in the Photograph - (Brazilian Literature) by Lygia Fagundes Telles (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published in Portugese as As Meninas by Josae Olympio, Rio de Janeiro, 1973; and in English by Avon Bard, New York, 1982"--T.p. verso.

Book Synopsis

Complex and hauntingly beautiful, Lygia Fagundes Telles's most acclaimed novel is a journey into the inner lives of three young women, each revealing her secrets and loves, each awaiting a destiny tied to the colorful and violent world of modern Brazil. Sensual and wealthy Lorena dreams of a tryst with a married man. Unhappy Lia burns with a frantic desire to free her imprisoned fiancé. Glamorous Ana Clara, unable to escape her past, falls toward a tragedy of drugs and obsession. Intimate and unforgettable, The Girl in the Photograph creates an extraordinary picture of the wonder and the darkness that come to possess a woman's mind, and stands as one of the greatest novels to come out of Brazil in the late twentieth century.

Review Quotes

"Telles' novels and short stories probe the psyche of the Sao Paulo bourgeoisie . . . Telles examines the moral decay of the middle classes, viewed through the experiences of young heroines who are trapped between their own dreams and their rigid social class." --Isabel Vincent, The Globe and Mail

"A master of communicating a sense of wonder and fantasy." --Raymond L. Williams, Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945

"Margaret Neves's translation from the Portuguese sparkles with the energy, colloquialisms and inflections of youth ... nearly four decades after its original release, the concerns of The Girl in the Photograph are no less pressing. What power--or responsibility--does one have to one's peers, or to one's countrymen? What does it mean for a woman to be truly liberated? To what extent can one transcend ones past? As the currents of life pull the girls' dramas forward to the novel's cataclysmic end, these questions are hardly resolved. They remain a provocation, an invitation to look beyond the surface." --Words Without Borders

About the Author

Lygia Fagundes Telles (1918--2022) was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and was one of the most respected authors in Brazilian literature. In 2005 she won the Cam es Prize, the greatest literary award in the Portuguese-speaking world, and during her lifetime was one of only three female members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Margaret A. Neves has translated work by Jorge Amado, Antonio Torres, Moacyr Scliar, and Edgard T. Ribeiro.

Earl E. Fitz is professor of Portuguese, Spanish, and comparative literature at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Rediscovering the New World: Inter-American Literature in a Comparative Context, and has translated works by Clarice Lispector, Lima Barreto, and Enrique Lefevre.