BLOOD-DRENCHED BEARD

I''m getting there. Patience, tchê. I wanted to give you the context. Because it''s a good story, isn''t it? His grandfather was murdered by the villagers of Garopaba during a Sunday dance at a community hall. The lights went out suddenly and when they came up, the gaucho was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Or so the story goes. When his own father commits suicide he feels compelled to discover the truth about his grandfather. So he travels to Garopaba and begins a simple life on the coast, taking his father''s old dog as a companion. He swims in the sea every day, makes a few friends, falls into a relationship, begins to make enquiries. But information doesn''t come easily. A rare neurological condition means that he doesn''t recognize the faces of people he''s met - leading frequently to awkwardness and occasionally to danger. And the people who know about his grandfather are fearful to give anything away. Steeped in tension, atmosphere and the sultry allure of south Brazil, Daniel Galera''s masterfully spare and powerful prose unfolds a story of discovery that feels mythic, elemental and archetypal - and announces Galera as a blazing new literary talent in the English-speaking world.