The curse of the women of Al Floris

Author's name: Angelica Lopes Publisher: Al-Adab for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2025 Literary classification: Novel About the book: Seven generations of women from the Flores family, living under a gypsy curse: all men who join the family, whether through marriage or birth, die prematurely. The events take place between the city of Rio de Janeiro in modern times, and the countryside of Pernambuco state in 1918. The young girl Alesia receives a lace handkerchief as a family inheritance, and discovers that it contains a secret message: a story of violence that happened a hundred years ago. To solve her mystery, she needs to travel through time to learn about her grandmothers' history. The novel explores themes such as female solidarity, the struggle for freedom, and resistance, showing how lace-making became a means of financial independence for women in that family. It also addresses the repression faced by Eugenia, the young woman forced to marry a wealthy man, and her attempt to escape that fate through secret symbols embroidered in the lace.