The Words That Remain (A Palavra Que Resta)

First published in Portuguese as A Palavra Que Resta

"Disarmingly tender & feverishly sad, Gardel's love story is a delirium of a novel that reminds its readers of an uncomfortable truth: that even a life of regret can be a beautiful one." — Patrick Nathan, author of Some Hell 

A letter has beckoned to Raimundo since he received it over fifty years ago from his youthful passion, handsome Cicero. But having grown up in an impoverished area of Brazil where the demands of manual labor thwarted his becoming literate, Raimundo has long been unable to read. As young men, he & Cicero fell in love, only to have Raimundo’s father brutally beat his son when he discovered their affair. 

Even after Raimundo succeeds in making a life for himself in the big city, he continues to be haunted by this secret missive full of longing from the distant past. Now at age seventy-one, he at last acquires a true education & the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, & shame, along with their flip side: survival, endurance, & the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society’s margins. 

The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word & language, & how they affect all our relationships.

°°° 

Stênio Gardel was born in 1980 in the rural northeast of Brazil. The Words That Remain is his first novel.

Bruna Dantas Lobato is a Brazilian writer & literary translator based in New York City. Her translation of Giovana Madalosso’s Tokyo Suite from Europa Editions was released in 2022. Lobato’s writing has appeared in A Public Space, BOMB, Ploughshares, & The Common.