the novels of Vivianne dos Santos
The Véspera Library
Short novels about women who carry too much and learn to set it down. Stories where you end up reading yourself.
free · the first novel
Amparo’s Hands
For thirty-six years, Amparo has caught her son before every fall. This is the year she learns that hands can also rest.
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the novels · one question at a time
shelf I · The Family Houses
What am I carrying that isn't mine?
Novels of mothers and children: the weight we carry out of love.
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Amparo's Hands
For thirty-six years, Amparo has caught her son before every fall. This is the year she learns that hands can also rest.
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The Translator
Only she understands her son. She became his voice to the whole world, and forgot her own.
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The Sentinel
Her children are grown and far away. Custódia still keeps watch over empty rooms.
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The Bolt
Her son only comes to ask, and when he drinks, he frightens her. The night Dores bolts the door.
What am I chasing that isn't mine?
For anyone chasing goals and never feeling they have arrived.
The Sister's Name
Eufémia was given her dead sister's name, and with it her sister's life. She never chose anything.
The New Road
Aurora was first at everything and never felt she had arrived. Every win becomes a step to the next.
The Low Doors
Modesta has the best voice in the choir and sings inward. She learned early that standing out costs dearly.
shelf III · The Shop
What keeps me from receiving what is mine?
Money, worth and the fear of receiving.
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The Ledger of Debts
Benvinda knows by heart what the whole village owes her. She has never charged anyone.
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The Full Pantry
Fartura's pantry is full and her table is poor. The hunger is long gone, but it still lives in her.
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The Unopened Gift
Dádiva cares for half the village and cannot receive. A gift from her daughter has sat unopened for three years.
shelf IV · The Bridge
What makes me lose myself when I love?
Love stories where a woman loses herself.
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The Man the Floods Brought
Rosário loves a man who comes and goes. The one who stays lights nothing in her.
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The Unfinished House
For twenty years her man has been about to finish the house. Esperança loves the promise, not the man who exists.
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The Thunderstorm
Tranquilina only feels loved in a storm. Peace feels like death to her.
shelf V · The Long Table
What is my place among others?
Family, belonging and the exhaustion of holding everyone up.
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The Master Beam
The whole family rests on Perpétua, and no one asks the pillar how she is.
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The Foreigner from Here
Abroad she was the one from here; here she is the one from away. Peregrina has two homes and none.
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No Trouble at All
Plácida asks for nothing, needs nothing, troubles no one. There have been parties where no one noticed she was missing.
shelf VI · The Mountains
What did I have to become in order to survive?
Women who became too strong and never ask for anything.
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The Woman Who Never Felt the Cold
Serafina raised her siblings from the age of eleven and never cried. Everyone swears she does not feel the cold.
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The Cistern
Soledade has always done everything alone. Asking, once, was not safe, and never again.
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The Returned Dishes
When she falls ill, the village leaves food at her door. Socorro returns the dishes full.
shelf VII · The Mill
Who am I without what I do?
Work, worth and the life left unlived outside it.
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While the Mill Sleeps
The mill has closed and Libânia still wakes at five. Without work, she does not know at what hour she exists.
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The Key to the Mill
For thirty years the key has been hers: first in, last out. If she stops, everything falls.
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The Unsigned Blanket
Half the village sleeps warm under her blankets and does not know it. Velada signs nothing.