Words That Remain

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNERDisarmingly tender and 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 ofThe Future Was ColorA 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 and Cicero fell in love, only to have Raimundos 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 and the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazils little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, and shame, along with their flip sides: survival, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on societys margins.The Words That Remainexplores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.