The Dark Side of Skin

Synopsis

Life under Brazil’s brutal “cordial racism” comes painfully alive in this novel of fathers and sons. For Pedro, becoming the protagonist of his own life means searching for himself in the objects his murdered father left behind, retracingthe layers of family history, memory, and loss that shaped them both.

As Pedro follows his family’s trajectory through the streets of Porto Alegre, he confronts the pervasive racism, violence, and institutional failures of southern Brazil. His investigation becomes an archaeology of affections, revealing thecomplicated bonds between fathers and sons, the burdens of history, and thewounds carried across generations.

Jeferson Tenório’s delicately rendered and painfully precise novel explores identity, race, family, grief, and belonging, while drawing on literature from Shakespeare to Cervantes. Originally published in Portuguese as O avesso da pele, The Dark Side of Skin is a powerful portrait of a family and a society shaped by racism and violence.

About the Author

Jeferson Tenório was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1977 and is based in Porto Alegre, where he has worked as a lecturer in literature. He holds a doctorate in LiteraryTheory from PUCRS. His literary debut, O beijo na parede, was chosen as Book of the Year by the Rio Grande do Sul Writers’ Association. The Dark Side of Skinwon Brazil’s 2021 Jabuti Prize for Best Novel.

About the Translator

Bruna Dantas Lobato is a Brazilian-American writer and translator from Portuguese. Her translations include The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel and MoldyStrawberries by Caio Fernando Abreu. Her translation of The Dark Side of Skin received an English PEN Translates Award.

Publisher

Charco Press

Publication Date

February 20, 2024

Format

Paperback

Pages

202

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Fiction in Translation · Brazilian Literature · Family Fiction · Race & Racism · Fathers and Sons

ISBN

9781913867737