Gayl Jones digs into the rich history of Palmares—a community in colonial Brazil populated by escaped slaves—as a reverence to the region’s culture. The narrative is filled with magical realism and sagas that span over years with no clear sense of time. As Almeyda navigates across the colonial regions, new characters and conflicts are introduced through the journey. Jones inspects the ideas of freedom and servitude alongside other major concepts of gender and race in this colonial period.
The escape to the Palmares community introduces Almeyda to a setup that is far from the Portuguese plantations that she grew up on. Occupied by self-emancipated slaves, she finds liberation for the first time and also falls in love with her future husband. However, the quilombo community has its own version of domination as the elites have slaves and women barely possess much freedom. Following the destruction of the community in 1694, Almeyda embarks on a journey to seek out her lost husband and another haven. With prior knowledge of languages, she blends with her surrounding with ease and bonds with all sorts of characters throughout.
Almeyda refuses to bow down to her circumstance by evading turning into a product of her environment. As such, curiosity enables her to encounter educated folks, Portuguese miners, indigenous tribes, and a medicine woman. This circle of acquaintances creates her worldview that is ever-changing and expanding. Kirkus Reviews wrote, “A legendary African American novelist returns with her first novel in 22 years, an epic adventure of enchantment, enslavement, and the pursuit of knowledge in 17th-century Brazil ….Those familiar with Corregidora (1975) and Eva’s Man (1976) will not be surprised by the sustained intensity of both imagery and tone.”
