In the early 1900s, women in a fictional small town in Brazil gather to make lace. Their lace becomes popular and the women begin earning money, which is especially helpful to one family, nicknamed “Flores” after their flower garden. Because of a supposed curse, these women are unlucky with men—their husbands die or leave them, and male children die young. But the lace allows them to support themselves.

In 2010 a young woman, Alice, in Rio de Janeiro receives a lace veil passed down to her from an aunt. Alice finds a piece of paper with the lace which explains that each stitch represents a letter of the alphabet. By deciphering this code, Alice reads the story of Eugenia, who sought to escape an abusive marriage. Alice doesn’t know who Eugenia is, nor why she, Alice, was entrusted to keep the veil, which has been handed down over generations.

The Curse of the Flores Women is told through alternating historical and modern sections. The historical sections are narrated in first person by Ines, a daughter in the Flores family, who is a good friend to Eugenia. The modern sections are told in third person through the eyes of Alice, who has an absent father and a difficult relationship with her mother. The author  helps us understand and keep track of the many characters in both sections through well-chosen details. Ines is depicted as a no-nonsense, hard-working lace maker. Candida, Ines’s blind little sister, enjoys feeding birds around their house. Alice is rebellious and given to drinking and partying.

The story of Eugenia’s abusive marriage, Ines’s involvement, and the mysterious connection to Alice, kept me interested throughout this novel. The author, Angelica Lopes, is a screenwriter who has written for Brazilian soap operas, so she definitely knows how to spin a captivating tale. In her author’s note, Lopes says that she wanted to deal with the issue of women’s empowerment in the early 1900s, when women’s rights groups emerged in Brazilian cities. The novel has an overtly feminist message, including references to an actual women’s organization in Brazil that plays a key part in the novel. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and their story. The novel was originally published in 2022 in Portuguese. The English translation, by Zoe Perry, appeared in 2024.

The author’s photo above is from her Instagram page.