Novel
O Quinze
Not translated into English
Rachel de Queiroz · 1930
Synopsis
During the great drought of 1915 in Ceará, Chico Bento, a cowherd on a fazenda in Quixadá, has to leave with his wife Cordulina and their children for Fortaleza. Lacking the money for the train, they make the journey on foot, in hunger and thirst. In Fortaleza, the family ends up in the camp where the victims of the drought are gathered; Conceição, a young volunteer teacher, brings them relief there. She is drawn to her cousin Vicente, a rancher who has stayed on his property.
Context
Published in the last months of 1930, when its author was almost unknown, the novel was talked about as far as Rio and São Paulo, according to the journal Temáticas of Unicamp, which also reports that Graciliano Ramos doubted it was the work of a woman. Britannica sees in it a renewal of the regional novel, attentive to women in a semi-feudal social order. Written in twenty-six untitled chapters, in a simple language of short sentences, it follows two parallel threads, that of the retirantes and that of the city. It was adapted for the screen in 2004.
Who it is for
A novel with a linear plot, told by an omniscient narrator, with direct dialogue and an unadorned language.
Prizes and reception
First novel by its author, translated into French in 1986 under the title L'Année de la grande sécheresse.
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