“Amores, Marias, Marés”, the highly anticipated debut novel by writer Chico Fonseca, is an engaging story of forbidden love and personal discoveries. Launched by the Jangada label, from Grupo Editorial Pensamento, the book transports readers to the city of São Luís do Maranhão, in 1963, where the imposing tides serve as a metaphor for the overwhelming feelings and desires experienced by two women in a forbidden relationship.
The plot features Maria Ellena, a young 26-year-old history teacher, married to Arthur, an aristocrat dominated by his mother. Despite her recent marriage, Ellena yearns to resume her passion for teaching and obtains permission to teach at home, without pay, to Mariana, a young student who is preparing for the History entrance exam. Mariana, interested in recovering the history of enslaved black people who contributed to the construction of São Luís, convinces Ellena to accompany her in her research, triggering a journey of discoveries and awakening of feelings.
With an empathetic narrative, the book addresses current issues, such as racial issues and sexual diversity, and immerses readers in a story full of emotion, poetry and twists. Chico Fonseca skilfully weaves reality and fiction together, bringing historical São Luís to light and presenting captivating characters who challenge the preconceptions of the time.
“Amores, Marias, Marés” promises to delight readers with its engaging writing, rich details about the city of Maranhão and a plot full of surprises. The book is a celebration of love and the courage to go your own way, even in the face of adversity.
How would you describe the city of São Luís as the backdrop for the story of Amores, Marias, Marés? How important are tidal variations to the plot of the book?
São Luís is a historic city, the only Brazilian capital that was not founded by the Portuguese, but by the French, in 1612, and is located on the Upaon Açu Island. Embraced by two rivers, the city was almost an island within the other, isolated within itself and its customs. The exploitation of slave labor, which made Maranhão rich, also caused its economic stagnation after the Abolition, leaving as a legacy the preservation of so many townhouses and mansions, which today make up a unique, cohesive architectural complex, with about four thousand buildings overturned. São Luís became a World Cultural Heritage Site by Unesco in 1997.
tides:The coast of Maranhão has one of the greatest tidal variations in the world. Every day, twice a day, the tide rises and falls six to eight meters. It’s like there are two tsunamis a day, only in slow motion. This tidal movement inspired the metaphor used in the book:
“Just like the rising tide, which invades the river channel and imposes itself on its current, reversing the direction of the water flow, sometimes nature reverses the direction of affection and desire, overlapping the current of customs”.
How does the forbidden relationship between the two women develop in the context of extreme prejudices at the time?
As an affective relationship between two women was not part of the city’s collective imagination, initial suspicions were that the teacher had a lover, using the student’s company to cover her weekly outings. Until a city gossip begins to raise suspicion of a relationship between the two and tells Ellena’s mother-in-law.
What are the current themes addressed in the book, such as racial issues and sexual diversity?
sexual diversity– The conflicts and reflections of the characters are portrayed. First, denying their feelings and desires, then recognizing that their nature is different, but that doesn’t make them better or worse than other people. They just are. Until they recognize that, together, they can face prejudice and try to live their relationship
Ancestry –Mariana is very keen to research the life of her great-great-grandfather. She only knew that he had been enslaved in the interior of the state and had managed to escape to São Luís, where he established himself as a boat builder. With Ellena’s help, they discover some brown, dusty envelopes, forgotten on an old shelf in the Convent of NS do Carmo. From there, the research takes a new direction, and Mariana gets to know her ancestry better. And be proud of her.
What are the main characteristics of the protagonist, Maria Ellena, and how does your life change when you meet Mariana?
Maria Ellena, a history teacher married to an aristocrat, had stopped teaching at a traditional school in the city to dedicate herself to her new status as a wife. A cultured and studious woman, loved by her students and respected by the school board, Ellena finds it difficult to adapt to the monotony of life as a housewife. Private lessons and Mariana’s company give her life a new meaning.
How does research on the participation of blacks in the construction of the city of São Luís impact the characters’ stories?
Information about the inhuman conditions to which enslaved people were subjected at the time, in addition to learning that all those mansions and townhouses in the city had been built by black hands, gave Mariana a much broader view of the value of her ancestry.
At what moment does the friendship between Maria Ellena and Mariana turn into an unexpected passion?
“Between research, tram rides and relaxed conversations, enjoying local fruit ice cream, Ellena and Mariana discovered affinities, became friends, confidants, until they found themselves entangled in this unexpected relationship, which would radically change their destinies”.
How does the work sew pieces of real stories together with others that never happened?
The story came from a real conversation, in a secret tone, between my parents and a couple of uncles. They spoke of a couple who had traveled to spend some time in Rio de Janeiro, in an attempt to stifle the repercussions of adultery, which was even common, but on the part of husbands. That’s when I realized that it was the wife who had cheated on her husband. Although they spoke in secret tones, and with the music in the background, I could hear that the adultery had been committed, not with another man, but with a girl. At least that’s what I understood.
I used, in the narrative, real life people who interact with the fictional characters, giving the story an air of realism.
What are the questions and dramas faced by the main characters and how do they deal with the whirlwind of feelings in a time of modesty and prejudice?
At first they think it’s just a great friendship that is emerging between them. They refuse to admit that there is a much deeper feeling, and accompanied by a strong physical attraction. At the time, a homoaffective relationship was considered an aberration, a sin, a deviant behavior. They try to resist the desire to get closer physically, they are very afraid of the consequences, in addition to being very ashamed of admitting their forbidden feelings. Until, with such close coexistence, nature proves stronger, and they end up giving in to desire. They regret it, promise it won’t happen again, think it was just a moment of weakness. But there was no denying it anymore. Until they admit, with a lot of guilt, that their nature is different, and there is no other way but to accept themselves as they are.
What is the twist at the end of the book that promises to surprise readers?
Well, that I won’t tell even under torture. Haha. I don’t want to take away the reader’s pleasure in finding out. I only guarantee that the ending will surprise. And thrill.
How will Chico Fonseca’s writing win readers over and lead them to follow the characters on their journey?
The story was written with a lot of empathy, respect and delicacy. I was swept away by the emotion of the characters, by their ability to overcome and the courage to assume their nature and fight against prejudice. It’s as if they had taken the keyboard from my hand and written their own stories, leaving me as a spectator.
How are social conventions challenged by the characters so that they can live their relationship?
Overcoming their own conflicts, supported by the love and complicity that unites them, and accepting that their own nature is above the conventions and prejudices then dominant in the provincial mentality of the time.
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