The Book of Affects

Critically acclaimed in her native Brazil, Marília Arnaud now reaches a wider, international readership with this English edition of O Livro dos Afetos [The Book of Affects]. In this short story collection, Arnaud uncovers the moving, complex, and often mystifying workings of the human heart as her characters grapple with desire, jealousy, betrayal, loss, and longing in nine stories ranging from the tender to the violent. The exploration of these varied themes and affects expands and intensifies through Arnaud’s use of alternating points of view: male and female, adult and child. Arnaud’s assured voice breathes life into these intriguing characters with masterful descriptions of their physical landscapes and inner lives, an energetic narrative pace, and polished, evocative, lyrical language. At once intimate and engaging, intense and warm, Arnaud’s writing echoes some of Clarice Lispector’s themes—love, loss, gender, the complexity of human relationships—and yet sets itself apart with its unique narrative style and diction. The Book of Affects offers an enticing sample of the talent and skill that make Marilia Arnaud one of the most accomplished Brazilian writers of our time.