Blood-Drenched Beard: A Novel

Blood-Drenched Beard: A Novel

From Brazilâ€™s most acclaimed young novelist, the mesmerizing story of how a troubled young manâ€™s restorative journey to the seaside becomes a violent struggle with his familyâ€™s past

â€”So why did they kill him?

â€”Iâ€™m getting there. Patience, tchÃª. I wanted to give you the context. Because itâ€™s a good story, isnâ€™t it?

A young manâ€™s father, close to death, reveals to his son the true story of his grandfatherâ€™s death, or at least the truth as he knows it. The mean old gaucho was murdered by some fellow villagers in Garopaba, a sleepy town on the Atlantic now famous for its surfing and fishing. It was almost an execution, vigilante style. Or so the story goes.

It is almost as if his father has given the youngÂ man a deathbed challenge. He has no strong tiesÂ to home, he is ready for a change, and he loves theÂ seaside and is a great ocean swimmer, so he strikesÂ out for Garopaba, without even being quite sureÂ why. He finds an apartment by the water and buildsÂ a simple new life, taking his fatherâ€™s old dog as aÂ companion. He swims in the sea every day, makesÂ a few friends, enters into a relationship, begins toÂ make inquiries.

But information doesnâ€™t come easily. A rareÂ neurological condition means that he doesnâ€™tÂ recognize the faces of people heâ€™s met, leadingÂ frequently to awkwardness and occasionally toÂ hostility. And the people who know about hisÂ grandfather seem fearful, even haunted. LifeÂ becomes complicated in Garopaba until it becomesÂ downright dangerous.

Steeped in a very special atmosphere, bothÂ languid and tense, and soaked in the sultry allureÂ of south Brazil, Daniel Galeraâ€™s masterfully spareÂ and powerful prose unfolds a story of discoveryÂ that feels almost archetypalâ€”a display ofÂ storytelling sorcery that builds with oceanic forceÂ and announces one of Brazilâ€™s greatest youngÂ writers to the English-speaking world.

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer Penguin Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2015-01-22
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Penguin Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2015-01-22
Format	Kindle eBook

Blood-Drenched Beard: A Novel

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