It is 2014. There is euphoria in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup is about to take place and the Olympics are in sight. It is a time of hope and frenzied construction.

Júlia is a partner with an architectural firm working on the future Olympic village. During a break from a meeting at the town hall, she goes for a run in the hillside neighbourhood of Alto da Boa Vista. There, a man puts a revolver to her head, takes her to a secluded spot, and rapes her. Left abandoned in the woods, she drags herself home, where her boyfriend and family members are waiting for her. .Engaging and exciting from the beginning. A very realistic feel for the reader.

Levy manages to give this novel a raw aura of authenticity even while it's artful enough to be a fictional and shaped narrative that is based on the true experience of a women she knows. It's worth saying upfront that the close-up details of the brutal rape at the heart of the story come nearer to the surface as the book progresses and they are horrific to read - it's a psychic violation as well as an exceptionally sadistic episode of physical and sexual assault.

Alongside the detailed recounting of trauma and some kind of recovery, the books also traces the problematic police investigation and the additional pressures placed on the victim to conform to a process that doesn't have her at its heart.

To offset the grim nature of much of this material is a story of motherhood (though some of the pregnancy and labour scenes also question who medical protocols are actually for) and a compensating portrait of a boyfriend-later husband who doesn't pressurise Julia and who supports her reclamation of her own body following the rape.

Levy is right to keep this short as it's intense and painful reading with some shocking scenes of vicious cruelty - but a thoughtfully-shaped narrative about a crucial topic that is finally getting a purchase on public discourse.

3.5 rounded up

A powerful novella which draws on a true story of a woman's rape in Brazil in the build up to the Olympics. The narrative is framed around Júlia telling her two children the story of her assault, its aftermath (including the subsequent police investigation) and the impact this has on her life. Lots of excellent literature coming out of South America at the moment - if you've enjoyed novels such as Elena Knows or The Rooftop I'd venture that this might be up your street too.