A Hard Land: Saudades, cartea 1

Saudades. A beautiful Brazilian word. We don't really have a perfect equivalent in English. The word itself shows so much of the intensity of Brazilian culture - a culture where emotion is not stifled but free to be felt and expressed. Saudades. The best way to describe it is longing for, or missing someone. But this does not really do justice to this word. It is that ache in your heart, that feeling of having lost a limb, when you wish so dearly you could be with a loved one. It is the loneliness, the emptiness. It is that lack of ability to take a full breath. Saudades. This is the pain I feel right now. Saudades. saudades, saudades. The word reverberates through my entire being. No amount of yoga is helping me to breathe today. I am so, so sad.

So begins the saga of Maddy Saunders and a journey that moves through the beautiful yet harsh Brazilian countryside. Maddy leaves her comfortable academic life in Canada to venture to Brazil to help set up a school. She doesn't expect that she'll fall in love. She doesn't expect the newfound family that welcomes her and shows her the traditions of this amazing land. And she never imagines that she could fall into the hands of one of the most powerful crime families in Brazil. A Hard Land is a coming-of-age story about the choices we make, the lessons we learn through our mistakes, the arrogance of youth and the wisdom of age. It's about finding our inherent inner strength in the face of evil and cowardice. And ultimately, it's about the power of love and the inherent desire of the human spirit to overcome all odds when the stakes are your own flesh and blood.