Brazil Red - Hardcover

Rufin, Jean-Christophe.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 033043392X ISBN 13: 9780330433921

Publisher: Picador, 2004

Synopsis

Just and Colombe are brother and sister, heirs to the Clamorgan estate. A scheming aunt and shortage of suitable interpreters, however, means the children soon find themselves aboard a ship bound for the Bay of Rio. As they embark on the journey of their lives, they encounter a world they could never have imagined, a world marked by uneasy alliances and illness, by double-dealings, lies and spies. Amidst fanatics, zealots, cannibals and villains, Just and Colombe can no longer be sure who is friend and who is foe, and soon learn they can take no-one for granted - not even each other. As the story builds to its dramatic climax, conquerors and conquered are - like Just and Colombe - forced to reconsider the nature and future of their relationship.

About this title

About the Author

Jean-Christopher Rufin won France's Prix Mediterranee and the Prix Goncourt for the best first novel for The Abyssinian. A doctor and founder of the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization Medicins Sans Frontieres, he has journeyed to many war-torn regions to administer aid, including Bosnia and Rwanda. He lives in France. This is his third novel.

From Publishers Weekly

A page-turner that won the Prix Goncourt in 2001, Rufin's third offering (after The Abyssinian and The Siege of Isfahan) fits neatly into the romance novel mold of beautiful maidens, brave knights and dastardly villains. The story centers on the plight of two 16th-century French orphans, Just and Colombe, who are tricked into joining a colonial expedition to subjugate Brazil. The enterprise is commanded by Chevalier Durand de Villegagnon, a colonist whose actual memoirs provided Rufin with some of the details that inspired this novel. Once across the ocean, Villegagnon prematurely dubs Brazil the "New France" and sets about combating his enemies: the hot Brazilian sun, the native residents and the Portuguese, who claimed sole right to Brazil long before. Years roll by and as the action proceeds, a question hovers portentously over the book: will the orphans grow up to be cruel colonialists or secular humanists who appreciate the Indians' wisdom? Rufin provides plenty of rousing action, yet somehow, despite the author's historical research, the book never rises far above melodrama. This is partly due to tired word choice and to the playlike structure of scenes that end with a conveniently chiming clock or thunder in the distance. Mostly, however, it is the natural consequence of the novel's overly neat divide between good and evil.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 033043392X
• ISBN 13: 9780330433921
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2