“A Color Defect”: My Most Important Read of 2024 ✨🇧🇷

This book will leave you in awe

Where do I even start.

Reading world literature in the languages I am fluent in (English, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and my mother tongue, Russian) is very important to me.

I wanted to read at least one book from Brazil this year and picked “A Color Defect” because it came highly recommended. I didn’t realize it would turn into such a powerful learning and transformational experience.

“A Color Defect” by Ana Maria Gonçalves, published in 2006, has already became a classic of the Brazilian literature.

In short, it is a story of slavery in Brazil and its impact on the enslaved and the formation of Brazil as a country, told through the voice of an African girl Kehinde.

Kehinde, born in the early 19th century in what is now the state of Benin, was captured at around six years old in the city of Ouidah, along with her twin sister and grandmother. She was taken to São Salvador, Brazil, to be sold into slavery.

The story narrated by Kehinde spans her entire life:

• Her time as a slave on the island of Itaparica and in Salvador itself.
• The deeply traumatic and tragic experiences she endured. All the experiences that were the twisted, tragic norm for enslaved women.
• Her journey to buying her freedom and building a very successful life.
• The reality of being a Black woman in Brazil at that time, with no say over whether your children would stay with you — children staying with their mothers being an exception rather than the norm.
• Her travels across Brazil and beyond, searching for her loved ones and reconnecting with her roots.

Kehinde (or, by her catholic name, Luisa) is not a hero. She is a woman who makes mistakes, lives, fights and tries to make the best of her circumstances. She is fierce and successful, but far from perfect — all of which makes the story even more vivid and relatable.

“A Color Defect” is thoroughly researched, with author Ana Maria Gonçalves spending years in the historical archives of Salvador and beyond.

It is a previously untold story of slavery in Brazil and its profound impact on the country’s social and cultural dynamics. I have read reviews urging for this book to be a mandatory read in Brazilian schools, so that the context of the formation of the country is more widely understood within Brazil itself.

I’ve always wanted to visit Salvador and learn more about its Afro-Brazilian culture, candomblé, and the many cultural influences that shaped it. “A Color Defect” was incredibly eye-opening and helped me understand so much more.

This book is a commitment with its almost 1,000 pages. I am still in awe and I think about it so fondly. It will definitely be one of the most important books in my lifetime — forget “best books of 2024”.

I do not post book recommendations without a beer review — why would I, when books and beers are two of my favorite things?

Today’s beer is Brahma, a classic Brazilian beer enjoyed on the iconic Ipanema beach in Rio.

Brazil holds a special place in my heart, and the picture below brings back many special memories of our last visit there.

Brahma is mostly known for its lighter beers, but Chopp Brahma Black stands out as something special — it’s a dark, creamy lager. I can’t wait to be back to Rio and enjoy more of it.