URAÇÁ, THE WHITE INDIAN

Uraçá, the White Indian recounts the discovery of Brazil, drawing on Pêro Vaz de Caminha's famous letter to King Manuel I as its foundational document. In the year 1500 — an age of maritime discoveries and fierce rivalries with Castile and other European powers — Lisbon seethes with spies whose services are paid in gold. When young Gonçalo uncovers a crime of high treason, he is forced to flee for his life by enlisting in Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet, where he endures the brutal fate of the ship's boys on the long voyage toward India. Even at sea, his enemies pursue him, laying a trap for him and his companion Mateus — a trap from which they could scarcely escape without the unexpected help of the Tupi, a people unlike any they had ever seen: naked, copper-skinned, adorned with paint and feathers, living in a land untouched by so-called "civilized" men. In this new world, among such unfamiliar people, the young grumete discovers love, undergoes a harrowing initiation, and is reborn as someone entirely Other — after a fierce inner battle that transforms him into a being of two worlds and two opposing civilizations. "The target audience is young readers, although the book will naturally appeal to a much wider range of readers who enjoy stories with historical themes and who will welcome access to this work. As for the writing and style, it is fluent and engaging, conveying the plot with a light touch and a contemporary expressiveness, while also intentionally drawing on an archaic tone inspired by the historical sources used by the author, which lends the narrative its essential local color and atmosphere." (Dr. José Manuel Garcia, historian and consultant to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation)