The Jaguar's Roar by Micheliny Verunschk

A tragically illuminating tale of an Indigenous girl's abduction during a colonial expedition, intertwined with a young woman's modern-day search for identity and ancestral truths, from a formidable talent in Brazilian fiction.

In 1817, two German scientists travelled across Brazil and into the Amazon gathering flora and fauna to study and display in Europe. Among the collection they brought to the Bavarian court were two Indigenous children.

The children's images became widespread, but little was known about the children themselves. Despite the scientists' detailed records about many of the plant and animal specimens, they only noted the children's tribes: the girl was a Miranha, and the boy, a Juri. After a few months, the children died in Germany, far from anyone who knew their names.

Dancing delicately between history and legend, The Jaguar's Roar weaves together the perspectives of all those tied up in the Miranha girl's fate, from her German captors, to the mythic jaguar she conjures for protection, to the anguished modern day bystander who stumbles across her sketch in a museum. This incandescent novel explores the impact of colonialism on memory and belonging, forcing readers to confront Brazil's suppression of its Indigenous history.

Juliana Barbassa's vivid translation of Verunchuk's poetic novel makes a lasting contribution to world literature.