by Jorge Amado
First published 1992
Two Arab immigrants land in Brazil's untamed frontier territory in 1903. Locals call them "Turks" regardless of their actual origins. The pair finds themselves drawn into the schemes of a local merchant who faces an impossible task. His daughter has earned a reputation as completely unmarriageable due to her fierce temperament. No suitor will have her. The merchant grows desperate to find someone willing to take her as a wife. The newcomers become entangled in his increasingly ridiculous attempts to solve this domestic crisis. Their arrival sets off a chain of farcical events in the rough Brazilian backlands. Amado spins their story into a Brazilian reimagining of Shakespeare's comedy about taming shrews. The novel explores how immigrants navigate their new world while locals try to bend tradition to their needs.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, comedy
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, romantic-comedy
Setting: Brazil
Period: 1903
96 pages · Paperback · Penguin Publishing Group