One Two

Like so many mothers and daughters, Maria Lúcia and Laura have a complex relationship, one steeped in abandonment and trauma. Laura tries to tear herself away from her mother’s body through language, because every daughter requires more than one birth. The clash between these two women is tied to words; the pages are their particular battlefield. As they each set out to write their versions of the story, the reader discovers that there are few divisions between their narratives, no distinctions between hate and affection. Subtle differences that distinguish the mother from the daughter can be found in the writing, but they are barely noticeable. Their acts of violence and raw emotional outbursts are mirrored; their truth is irreversibly shared. As mother and daughter, they are given life by virtue of death. By shattering the profound silence of their shared distress, they discover the ties that irrevocably bind them.

One Two is a dramatic and gut-wrenching blurring of reality and fiction. Critically acclaimed upon its release in Brazil, the novel was shortlisted for the Portugal Telecom Prize for Literature and the São Paulo Prize for Literature.