Symphony in White

Winner of the 2003 José Saramago Prize, this riveting novel follows two sisters from their childhood in rural Brazil into adulthood as they wrestle with a dark family secret. At 15, Clarice goes to live with a great-aunt in Rio de Janeiro, leaving Maria Ines, 11, behind to stir up trouble. As the years pass, their mother grows ever sicker and their massively abusive father drinks himself into a stupor. When Clarice returns home to marry, Maria Ines moves to Rio, where she ignites the passion of young artist Tomás, though her destiny seems to lie with her beloved second cousin, João Miguel. More than 20 years later, Maria Ines and her grown daughter return to the family home where Clarice now lives and where Tomás rents the farmhand's cottage, and a web of trauma, love, and betrayal waits to be unspooled. Lisboa (The Threads of Memory ) deftly weaves together scenes of past and present, sister and sister, mother and daughter, and husband and lover, bringing the story to a satisfying crescendo. (Apr.)