FICTION

Flesh and Bone and Water

by Luiza Sauma
Scribner. Jun. 2017. 272p. ISBN 9781501158025. $26; ebk. ISBN 9781501158049. F
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Sauma's first novel is told from the perspective of Andre, a doctor from a wealthy Rio de Janeiro family who lives in London. He seems to have it all—loving wife and daughter, a good job—but then he begins receiving letters from a woman from his past. The letters cause him to retreat so far into the past that his wife asks him to move out. Most of the novel is a recollection of his adolescence. When Andre was 16, his mother died in a car accident, and his father took them to the Amazon city of Belem to reconnect with the family roots. It's here he begins lusting after Luana, the daughter of the family maid. His obsession and eventual affair with her, along with his other sexual exploits, are difficult to read. Issues of class and gender are touched on, but more time is spent on Andre's teenage parties.
VERDICT The cultural details in this novel may be interesting to Brazilian expats, and YA readers may relate to the coming-of-age story. However, the plot is predictable and the author's attempt to shock the reader with family secrets falls flat.
Reviewed by Kate Gray, Boston P.L., MA , Jun 01, 2017
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