The New York Times Book Review - Jan Stuart
…beguiling…Batalha winkingly employs echoing names…to suggest that her male characters have all tumbled out of the same chauvinistic nest, but she makes them (along with her less admirable women characters) individuals with elaborate back stories that confer a ray of humanity, if not the benefit of the doubt. In this translation from the Portuguese by Eric M. B. Becker, Batalha's empathy is buoyed by puckish wordplay and nostalgia for a time when an act of emancipation entailed a manual typewriter and a good smoke…
Press Association
'[Martha Batalha] brings to life her many characters and the sights, smells and experiences of the world they live in with a deft, wry touch.'
Asymptote
'Humorous and sensitive... Martha Batalha’s mature writing, which is also smooth and intoxicating, seasoned with characteristic authority and jolliness, and an immersive plot, makes this book a narrative delight.'
The Herald
'[Batalha] effortlessly brings to life not only her many characters, but the sights, smells and experiences of the world they live in with a deft, wry touch. Characters are at the heart of this enchanting, unusual debut novel which draws readers in with its witty, evocative prose.'
Liberty Hardy (Book Riot podcast)
'Delightful and funny... The writing style reminded me of A Man Called Ove – dark humor, quirky characters – it was an absolute delight.'
Foreword Reviews - Meg Nola
'The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is earthy and witty, and the lives of its heroines of everyday existence are memorable and inspiring.'
Paste Magazine
'The cumulative effect of the novel’s interwoven stories is a quiet celebration of the lives women lead away from men...the novel’s final lines, representing the “tack-tack-tack” of the typewriter’s keys, suggest that Euridice, along with the other women in the novel, will end up having the final say.'
Alberto Mussa
‘Razor-sharp, dry, caustic and intelligent.’
The Lady - Philippa Williams
'Tremendous fun... A story of kindness and grace, which does not need to be any longer, but is sufficiently addictive to make us wish it were.'
The Riveter
'The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao unfurls a tender portrait of a woman insisting upon a life of her own making, and it’s a wondrous tribute to the quiet resiliency of women coping with myopic traditions.'
Stylist
'With something of Chocolat's charm about it, this is a funny, empowering tale of two sisters in forties Rio de Janeiro whose lives diverge only to come back together as they search for a sense of their own lives. A real gem of a book.'
Historical Novel Society 'Editor’s Choice Selection' for November
'With humor and fresh, clever writing, the author addresses women’s issues in mid-century society... All the characters’ stories and descriptions are so cleverly told and so much fun to read. I loved this book. It puts a spotlight on women living in the ´40s, and is told with originality and skill. It is such a refreshing read, and I highly recommend it. This is the author’s debut novel, and I will watch for anything new from her in the future.'
Booklist
'Batalha’s debut shines a light on often-overlooked members of society and paints a thorough and riveting portrait of its characters that will keep readers engaged till the end.'
Book Riot (must-read book of October)
'I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover, but the cover art for The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is what drew me in because it’s just beautiful—bold and vibrant and whimsical, which, as you might have guessed, could describe Euridice herself... She is scrappy and industrious, and it was a pleasure to get to root for her throughout this novel.'
LCI (France) Gerard Collard
'An absolute dream. Every woman should read this book.'
Cosmopolitan (France)
‘We love the raging irony of this story and its portrayal of a secret rebel.’
Irish Examiner
'An irrepressible tale of life and love.'
Le Parisien Magazine
‘Martha Batalha delivers a feminist debut [...] and a beautiful journey through folkloric Rio filled with the scent of spices, coconut milk and guava marmalade.’
Chicago Review of Books
'Humorous and exuberant, this book is a rare treat!'
Vogue (Brazil)
'Extraordinary. You can’t put this book down.'
Daily Mail
'This zesty Brazilian debut has the same brightly coloured quality as a folk painting... A novel that brims indeed with invisible life – not just Euridice's, but the dreams of an entire cast of women: housewives, daughters, and the forsaken who fall in between.'
Madame Figaro
‘A jubilant novel about the emancipation of women.’
Bustle
'Filled with intrigue, mystery, sadness, and a novel’s-worth of fierce leading ladies, this one is perfect for fans of Julia Alvarez and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.'
author of Umami Laia Jufresa
'Spellbinding... Batalha is one of those rare writers who can summarise an entire life in a single paragraph, so when she spends an entire book on a single life, the reader is in for a treat.'
Book Riot
'The arc of this novel, the writing, the characters, are a joy to read.'
literaturkritik.de
‘Martha Batalha creates a nostalgic, exotic microcosm...full of compassion, but with a good pinch of irony and a hearty helping of humour.’
World Literature Today
'With sharp humor and pointed prose, Marta Batalha’s novel rebels against the patriarchal forces of her home country.'
author of Things We Lost in the Fire Mariana Enriquez
'Martha Batalha...tells the story of the brilliant sisters Guida and Euridice with humour, social awareness and wit.'
Sainsbury's Magazine
'Funny, sensual, and full of the flavour of a city rarely captured in fiction.'
Woman's Way
'Irrepressible.'
Elle (France)
'A unique and enchanting novel.'
BookTrib
'Vibrant and very human.'
New York Times Book Review
'Beguiling... Has all that much changed? we can hear the author sighing between the breathless pauses of her fable-like saga...Batalha winkingly employs echoing names like Antenor, Antonio, Alfonso and Alvaro to suggest that her male characters have all tumbled out of the same chauvinistic nest... In this translation from the Portuguese by Eric M. B. Becker, Batalha’s empathy is buoyed by puckish wordplay and nostalgia for a time when an act of emancipation entailed a manual typewriter and a good smoke: "Each cigarette was a cry of freedom that was complete in itself and left no tracks."'
film director Carlos Saldanha
'Clever and unusual...filled with amusing tales told through its array of memorable characters.'
writer Ruy Castro
'An epic saga, a roman-fleuve.'
Historical Novel Society 'Editor’s Choice Selection' for November
'With humor and fresh, clever writing, the author addresses women’s issues in mid-century society... All the characters’ stories and descriptions are so cleverly told and so much fun to read. I loved this book. It puts a spotlight on women living in the ´40s, and is told with originality and skill. It is such a refreshing read, and I highly recommend it. This is the author’s debut novel, and I will watch for anything new from her in the future.'
Booklist
'Batalha’s debut shines a light on often-overlooked members of society and paints a thorough and riveting portrait of its characters that will keep readers engaged till the end.'
Daily Mail
'This zesty Brazilian debut has the same brightly coloured quality as a folk painting... A novel that brims indeed with invisible life – not just Euridice's, but the dreams of an entire cast of women: housewives, daughters, and the forsaken who fall in between.'
The Lady Philippa Williams
"Tremendous fun...A story of kindness and grace, which does not need to be any longer, but is sufficiently addictive to make us wish it were."
From the Publisher
"The arc of this novel, the writing, the characters, are a joy to read."
—Book Riot
"A remarkable new voice."
— Vogue (Brazil)
"All the characters’ stories and descriptions are so cleverly told and so much fun to read. I loved this book. It puts a spotlight on women living in the ´40s, and is told with originality and skill. It is such a refreshing read, and I highly recommend it. This is the author’s debut novel, and I will watch for anything new from her in the future.”
— Historical Novel Society
- Book Riot
"The arc of this novel, the writing, the characters, are a joy to read."
Foreword Reviews
Baltalha’s debut is earthy and witty, with heroines who are memorable and inspiring.
Martha Baltalha’s debut novel, The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao, follows two sisters as they come of age in 1940s Rio de Janeiro. Euridice is the younger and more serious of the pair, while Guida is the elder, a self-assured beauty determined to have her way, even when determination turns to disappointment.
Guida enchants the son of a prominent local family, but his parents disapprove of the relationship and cut him off. The affair ends badly, leaving Guida pregnant, alone, and forced to rely on her ever-increasing street smarts to make a life for herself and her baby.
Euridice, on the other hand, attempts to be the good daughter in her family, marrying a man she feels less than thrilled about for security and respectability. Euridice’s keen intelligence and varied talents are suppressed by her bourgeois parents; like many women of her era, she accepts domesticity and motherhood as part of her fate. She feels that marriage is something “endemic,” to be endured, like having the flu.
Though the novel has an underlying tone of subtly wry humor, this does not lessen the depth of the narrative. Euridice’s obsessive outlets for her thoughts and energies—first a passion for cooking, and then a home-based dressmaking business—are engagingly related, if they are ultimately quashed by her husband’s disapproval. Euridice turns her passion to literature, typing away for hours at her mysterious opus, The History of Invisibility.
The novel spans from late nineteenth century Rio to the early 1960s, detailing the tenacious poverty of Estácio, the bland middle class of Tijuca, and the more cosmopolitan Ipanema.
Baltalha writes with a vivid resonance, creating distinctive characters in Euridice and Guida, the motherly prostitute Filomena, and Zélia, Euridice’s spitefully snoopy neighbor. While many of the women’s fathers, husbands, sons, and lovers act in domineering or destructively weak-willed ways, they often seem to be more products of their culture and time than outright villains.
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is earthy and witty, and the lives of its heroines of everyday existence are memorable and inspiring."
Kirkus Reviews
2017-08-06
A charming family tale of the Gusmao sisters—whose lives diverge and eventually come together again.The Gusmao family lives in Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s. Euridice worships teenage Guida; Guida tolerates Euridice. Volatile Guida battles her parents until the night she sneaks off with her forbidden boyfriend and doesn't return. Devastated, Euridice mourns the loss; her parents' emotions run the gamut until they write off their eldest. Life goes on, and Euridice marries a sensible choice to please her parents and leaves home to live a lonely life despite her husband and two children. Driven to distraction by boredom, she struggles to fill her days with projects other than cooking and maintaining the home, hiding such ventures from her traditional husband, Antenor, who repeatedly quashes her ambitions when he discovers all that she's hidden from him. Discouraged, a now passively resistant Euridice becomes a mere shadow in the background. Guida unexpectedly returns with her son and a wild tale of her broken relationship, and Euridice's spirit fills with life once again. Batalha's well-rounded characters show how beliefs and decisions—whether acted on openly, as Guida does, or covertly like Euridice—affect their own lives and the lives of others. Batalha portrays the bleakness that can arise in marriage—not an absence of love as much as an absence of appreciating the other's needs or, conversely, of sacrificing one's own needs. Be prepared to love invisible Euridice, who has so much more to offer than the confines of life in Rio allowed at the time. And be prepared to want to kick her in the butt and say, "Come on, woman! Don't give in!" She doesn't. For those who enjoy delving into characters and love to watch life unfold for others, this thought-provoking tale will satisfy. A worthy debut for Batalha, full of wry humor.
