I Didn't Talk

The English-language debut of a master stylist: a compassionate but relentless novel about the long, dark harvest of Brazils totalitarian ruleA professor prepares to retireGustavo is set to move from Sao Paulo to the countryside, but it isnt the urban violence hes fleeing: what he fears most is the violence of his memory. But as he sorts out his papers, the ghosts arrive in full force. He was arrested in 1970 with his brother-in-law Armando: both were vicariously tortured. He was eventually released; Armando was killed. No one is certain that he didnt turn traitor: I didnt talk, he tells himself, yet guilt is his lifelong harvest. I Didnt Talk pits everyone against the protagonistespecially his own brother. The torture never ends, despite his bones having healed and his teeth having been replaced. And to make matters worse, certain details from his shattered memory dont quite add up... Beatriz Bracher depicts a life where the temperature is lower, there is no music, and much is out of view. I Didn't Talk's pariahs-eye-view of the forgotten small victims powerfully bears witness to their internal exile. I didnt talk, Gustavo tells himself; and as Bracher honors his endless pain, what burns this tour de force so indelibly in the readers mind is her intensely controlled voice.