A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
Out of Earth by Sheyla Smanioto

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

There is an odd disfluency to the translated title of this book that I didn’t understand at first, but reading Out of Earth it becomes clear that the title needs to hold multiple meanings, sometimes jarringly. Earthy, visceral, nightmarish imagery propels this book in a swirling motion back and forth, circling through time and memory and dreamscapes. The earth is a place where things are buried, but that has a habit of regurgitating them, unearthing them when least expected like traumatic memories resurfacing. The earth is also sometimes the only source of sustenance for the women of this story living in the arid, windy north of Brazil, they are dirt poor, literally.

This is a harsh, violent landscape particularly for the four generations of women the book focuses on. Men are lurking in the background, the source of much of the violence, always draining resources, never contributing. For the whole of the first section one of the main male characters is an energy-sucking absence, avoidant of responsibility but leaving an indelible stamp on the fractured relationships between the women. Several succumb to a complete fracturing of the mind and who wouldn’t under these circumstances. This perceived witch-like madness is dealt with harshly by the community. Escape to São Paulo seems the only way out but as the cyclical, repetitive narrative shows, the slums on the edge of the city are not much different from the bleak landscape of the north.

Recommended for fans of Hurricane Season and you will need a similarly strong stomach for this. Smanioto doesn’t let the reader get away with just consuming this story, the end reminds us that “reading: devouring the hunger of others”. Reading this book is like the compulsion to pick off a scab. An incredible piece of writing and translation, highly recommended.
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