Justice is our road.
Água de Barrela is a Brazilian book released in 2015 by Eliana Alves Cruz. It tells the fictionalized story of her family since their arrival from the Oió Kingdom (roughly where Nigéria stands today) to when they start living on Rio de Janeiro, where the author was born, mainly covering the long period of which the family lived in-between sugarcane plantations in Bahia.
It spans from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, being separated in two parts: Martha and Adônis (divided in three sections) and Damiana and João Paulo.
Água de Barrela has examples of:
- The '80s: Damiana celebrated her 100th birthday in 1988.
- Achey Scars: Firmino gets one on his left leg after being hit by a spear during the Triple Alliance War.
- Actually Pretty Funny: after Adonis scares her and she curses him, Martha starts to laugh alongside him.
- When one of the soldier friends of Firmino tells him off for disrespecting authority and tells him he should do everything the authority says so he can get a chance to survive they briefly pause before promptly cracking up.
- Adopt-a-Servant: Iaiá Bandeira and Colonel Francisco (and later Maricota and her family) do this to Maria da Glória, Damiana's sister, as "payment" for letting Damiana attend school. Since her arrival she's almost never able to leave, has to do all the housework alone, is barely paid, has no paid vacations and suffers emotional abuse to stay at their house.
- Age-Gap Romance: Roberto is eighteen years older than Martha. (He was born in 1857 and she was born in 1875).
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: it's mentioned that a lot of the parties end up in tragedy due to drinking, mainly during the enslavement era.
- Moreno kills his wife in a drunken rage.
- Amoral Attorney: Averted with Adolpho Silva, who acts as an advisor to Martha's family and constantly defended poor clients throughout his life.
- An Arm and a Leg: Tito, one of the slaves at the Natividade engenho, ends up with an arm mowed down due to the sugarcane mowing machine.
- Apocalyptic Gag Order: The president and the flu. He refused to admit something was happening, despite the deaths piling up. In the end, he dies due to it.
- Arranged Marriage: Common at the rich families of the time. Ex.: Colonel Francisco Tosta arranging his son's marriage to Emilia Bandeira, six years older than him.
- Bedlam House: The Juliano Moreira Hospital, which features solitaire confinement, heavy sedation and the dreaded electroshock. Nunu gets so traumatized due to it that she ends up running away one time. After another stay, Damiana is the one to ask for her release.
- Best Friends-in-Law: Tutu and Martha become in-laws after Celina, Martha's granddaughter, marries Maneca, Tutu's son.
- Bigot with a Crush: Moreno for Isabel. Moreno is the foreman of the Engenho Natividade and torments every single one of the slaves, especially Firmino, as he despises black people. He eventually falls for Isabel, one of the slave cooks.
- Blind Fury: After knowing what Moreno did to Isabel, he goes straight to him and almost beats him up, only stopping after José Hauçá gets between them.
- After one of the freedmen calls Moreno due to a land dispute with other freedmen, including Firmino, they fight again and the same blind fury appears. They only stop fighting after two freedmen come to take Firmino away.
- Boarding School of Horrors: Damiana gets into a Catholic school run by nuns that offers spots for poor girls. However, the sisters make the poor girls clean after the rich ones, to their education's harm, in a repetition of the era's colonial mindset.
- Damiana later convinces Celina, her daughter, to put her eldest granddaughter in one of those Catholic schools, in a misguided thought that they still had the best educational system. When Celina finds out what was happening to her daughter, she takes her out immediately.
- Caged Bird Metaphor: Adônis tries to use this to convince Dodó to leave the Tosta house. It doesn't work.
- The Casanova: João Paulo is described as having loads of lovers.
- Church Lady: Joanna Vieira Tosta and later Iaiá Bandeira, who force their slaves to follow their faith and are almost always at church. Maricota kinda applies.
- For a positive example, Damiana.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Maneca, after earning his salaries, immediately goes on partying and spending bends (specially with gambling). These are followed by periods of intense sadness.
- Cool Old Guy: José Hauçá, who takes care of Firmino and inspired him to stand up to his masters. He unfortunately gets killed by Moreno while Moreno was trying to kill Firmino.
- Covered in Scars: Firmino, eventually, due to his various punishments.
- Cruel And Unusual Punishment: Joanna Tosta punishes a slave who wouldn't follow in her prayers by cutting out her tongue. She then says she'll leave her alive as a testament to God.
- Dead Guy Junior: Isabel gets with Firmino after Roberto dies and they later have a boy, also called Roberto.
- Death by Childbirth: Ewa Oluwa dies giving birth to Anolina.
- Determinator: Damiana, who inherited it from Martha. Damiana decided one day that no one after her would need to be a washerwoman to survive, she then worked double with Martha so her daughter would be able to attend a Normal school and become a teacher. She then extends her work to her grandkids, which eventually gets Eloá into law school.
- The Dreaded: Dona Joanna and her oldest son, Manuel. The latter due to his iron fist as a government official, ending revolts easily, the first due to her cruelty to her slaves.
- Moreno, the foreman, who will use every opportunity to punish the slaves.
- Domestic Abuse: Moreno to Angela, his wife. He ends up killing her.
- João Paulo to Damiana, he spends most of their money on drinking and gambling, cheats on her and almost beats her up. He then steals Marta's money and runs away, only being found years later.
- Doomed New Clothes: Celina is about to get married and buys a really nice dress, which she puts on display at home (also, she gets a new porcelain dinner set). Celina and Damiana argue about it, as the latter disagrees with her daughter's wedding (mainly because she doesn't trust the groom), she eventually accepts it, and all seems well. Cue Nunu breaking all the porcelain and destroying the dress in a fit of rage, to "end that ridiculous wedding".
- Driven to Suicide: Firmino, after Roberto gets captured and killed, thinks of killing himself with a dagger. He is found by José Hauçá, who reminds him to take care of Anolina.
- Isabel, after Roberto is captured and (possibly) killed due to a failed slave revolt, tried to drown herself. Firmino saves her, though.
- Elemental Motifs + Mythical Motifs: Rain and storms (and sometimes fire) appear in the novel to mark important events, such as Anolina being born during a soft rain, Damiana being born during a storm, Moreno dying in a mysterious fire at his house after Firmino and Roberto run away from prison, and the second Roberto dying during a storm. The rain, the storms and the fire are associated with the orisha Xangô/Shango, which is said to be the family's protector, as their original surname while in Africa was Shangokunle.
- Eye Scream: Fiel loses one of his eyes while being punished for planning to run away and join the army.
- The Gambling Addict: Maneca, as it turns out. At the end of the novel, it's mentioned that he even lost at the gambling table books belonging to his son's university.
- Gender-Blender Name: Eloá, who's actually Celina's first son. His sisters, Einar, Elmar and Edmar kinda apply too.
- Generational Saga: Oh yeah.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted by Anolina, who, after getting raped by Francisco many times, ends up pregnant and drinks an abortion-inducing tea. (although she loses a lot of blood and almost dies).
- Good Parents: Anolina, although tough, works hard to provide for her and Martha.
- Martha also works hard to support Damiana and Maria da Glória, even managing to send Damiana to school. She also saves a lot of money in jewelry to pay for her granddaughter's education (it's a pity that João Paulo steals all of it when he finds out).
- Good Shepherd: Father Samuel, an abolitionist who takes Firmino and Roberto in while they're on the run.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: A few words are written in Yorubá at the first part.
- Historical Fiction: The book covers various historical events through the impact of them on the characters lives.
- History Repeats: Celina has an unhappy marriage with Maneca, just like her parents, Damiana and João Paulo.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Josefa. She quickly becomes friends with Martha, doing her daughter's hair and quickly telling her to be careful with João Paulo.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Firmino and Adonis. Firmino never accepts his enslavement and Adonis becomes a proud abolitionist.
- Impoverished Patrician: With the end of slavery in Brazil, the decline of the sugarcane plantations and the end of the Brazilian Empire, the Tosta family starts to lose their riches and privileges. They'd never admit it, though.
- Incest Is Relative: Quite common with the Tosta-Bandeira, so their properties would always be kept in the family. It's said that eventually they all kind of look alike due to it.
- Instant Illness: Cholera, which is said to kill in a few days at most.
- In Vino Veritas : Mentioned in universe as being Angela's belief when she catches her husband muttering Isabel's name while sleeping after drinking.
- Ironic Echo: Between Celina and João Paulo. João Paulo disagreed with sending his daughters to school, thinking it wasn't useful for them. When Celina is almost graduating from the Normal school and he shows up at Martha's invite to calm down Nunu so she would be able to go to the ceremony, he congratulates her on it. The result is that Celina fires out what he said word for word.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Adolpho himself says he's a disillusioned man after so many years as an attorney.
- Kids Are Cruel: Francisco uses Anolina as his personal toy.
- The kids at Nunu's school made fun of her due to her schizophrenia.
- Legacy of Service: The Tosta family enslaved the author's family, thus most of her relatives (great-grandmother Damiana, great-great-grandmother Martha, Adônis, Anolina, Dodó and Firmino) either were their slaves or ended up working for them after slavery ended.
- Luke, I Might Be Your Father: Colonel Francisco makes Anolina his sexual slave for a time, then briefly stops when he gets married. In this meantime, Anolina falls in love with Alexandre (who, to complicate things further, is the son of the Colonel's father, also named Francisco, with one of his slaves), the caretaker of the house's horses. They start dating, and the Colonel starts abusing her again. Anolina then gets pregnant and nobody is sure of the kid's father. Although she considers it to be Alexandre, she knows it's a 50/50 chance. She never tells Martha who's her father.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Martha, Anolina's daughter with either Alexandre the horse caretaker or Francisco, the Colonel's son (who eventually also becomes Colonel Francisco). Martha doesn't find out that the Colonel might be her father until she hears Maricota and her mother, Emilia, arguing. Maricota then starts to say her father had various lovers and didn't leave out Anolina. Emilia then slaps her across the face.
- Massively Numbered Siblings: Tutu and Matheus have seven kids .
- Colonel Francisco and Iaiá Bandeira had seven kids, four girls and three boys.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Moreno's death by fire. It's never completely stated if he just accidentally set fire to his house after heavily drinking, if somebody set it on fire or if it's a curse by Shango, who protected Firmino and his family.
- Meaningful Name: Fiel note , who was the only friend Firmino made in the Pitangas engenho, constantly helped Firmino get rid of his punishments, proposed that they go fight in the Paraguayan war together and gets punished alongside Firmino when the plan is discovered.
- Meaningful Rename: Akin gets renamed by a priest to Firmino when he arrives in Brazil. He only finds out that his name came from Latin and meant strong decades later, due to another priest, called Samuel. His new name was chosen in reference to his great physical strength, but also comes to mean his great mental resilience.
- The Mentally Disturbed: Nunu, who has paranoid schizophrenia.
- Also Maneca, who gets diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his old age.
- Older Than They Look: Martha, after her diabetes and the years of going up and down slopes to sell her food set in.
- Old Flame: Isabel and Firmino, who spent decades separated (mainly due to Firmino running away from jail and having to hide). The moment they meet again they realize they still had feelings for each other. Unfortunately, this doesn't last, as they meet again the day Salvador got bombed, and Martha's house, where the two were at the time, was one of the targets.
- Old Retainer: Dodó becomes this to a branch of the Tosta family. They make her exhaust herself while working for them, suffering emotional abuse to stay at their house, has few leaves, receives a "salary" which is just a meager wage (only enough so she wouldn't be considered a slave in the technical sense of the world), to the point where her health declines and she develops a tumor which kills her. Her family once didn't see her for two years, and was continuously appalled by her treatment at their hands.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted by the white families, with it being noted by the narrator that they tend to repeat names so everyone knows for sure to whom they're related to. An example is Colonel Francisco, married to Carolina Tosta (his wife and niece) and their son, (eventually Colonel) Francisco, who gets married to Emilia Bandeira (or Iaiá Bandeira). Another is Maria da Conceição Tosta (or Maricota, the daughter of Iaiá Bandeira with Francisco) and two of her daughters: Mary and Maria Auxiliadora.
- Averted also by Isabel, who names her kid after her love, Roberto.
- Later averted by Damiana, who gives her second daughter her grandmother's name: Anolina. Although she's mostly called Nunu.
- Averted by João Paulo and João Gulodice note
- Outliving One's Offspring: Martha ends up having a longer life than Dodó.
- Umbelina does the funeral rites for Anolina. The narration notes she's shocked that after delivering her, she lived enough to send her back.
- Overly Long Name: Dom Pedro II, whose full name (Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga) titles one of the book's chapters.
- Parental Substitute: Umbelina for Anolina; José Hauçá for Firmino.
- Umbelina, Dasdô and Dona to young Damiana and Maria da Glória.
- Parent with New Paramour: Martha starts dating Roberto after separating from Adônis. The girls, Damiana and Dodó, react well.
- Precision F-Strike: Josefa, while eating the sweets Martha brought her. Although Josefa generally is Lady Swears-A-Lot anyway.
- The Quisling: Cecilia betrays her fellow slaves, who prepared to revolt against their masters, due to fear of uncertainty that would come after it.
- Rape as Backstory: Moreno goes to Isabel while drunk, takes her forcefully to a ravine in which they both accidentally fall down and she passes out. Moreno then rapes her. It makes her lose her kid.
- Francisco, the son of Colonel Francisco, receives Anolina as his 13th birthday present, so he could have his sexual initiation with her. Anolina obviously had no choice in the matter.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Martha and Adônis switch between these in their lives. At first, Adônis wants to fight nail and tooth for the slaves' liberation, while Martha doesn't think a lot will change. Then after the slavery (officially) ends, Adônis insists on staying away from the capital and taking care of his farm (still on his ex-masters' land) while Martha wants to explore everything the capital has, working at her pace. Their uncompromising natures make it impossible to reconcile and they separate.
- Riddle for the Ages: Just what did Shango (while on Martha's body) say to João Paulo to make him compliant? (For a time, at least). Martha doesn't remember anything and Regina (their neighbor) and João Paulo didn't want to say anything.
- Second Love: Firmino is this to Isabel, after Roberto dies.
- Roberto, Firmino and Isabel's son, is this for Martha after she and Adonis break up.
- The Speechless: Felipa, after Joanna cuts her tongue out.
- Spoiled Brat: Francisco, son of Colonel Francisco, who makes Anolina's life hell.
- Strong Family Resemblance: the Vieira Tosta, after so many intramarriages, look very alike, giving the impression that they're all the same man/woman.
- Martha is born looking a lot like her African grandmother, Ewa Oluwa, just lighter.
- Celina eventually starts to look a lot like her dad, João Paulo.
- Supreme Chef: Anolina. Her rum cocadas are a great success at the Tosta's household. This eventually passes over to Martha.
- Teen Pregnancy: Martha has Damiana at 14.
- We don't find out what the exact age of Ewa was, but she was in a slave allotment ranging from 8 to 14, and was already pregnant then.
- Umbelina had Dasdô at 12.
- Tragically Missing the Point: After Dr. Adolpho tells her to be careful with João and not try to change him, Damiana's internal monologue notes that while she recognized Adolpho cared about her, she would need to double her work on João.
- Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: Damiana and João Paulo. They almost come to blows a few times in the book.
- Which is just a stronger, way more harmful repetition of Martha and Adonis.
- Woman Scorned: Angela. Who decides to make Isabel's life hell. And Isabel makes hers too.
- Would Hit a Girl: Moreno rapes Isabel and beats up his wife when she displeases him.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Dr. Adolpho seems to believe this, telling Damiana she wouldn't be able to break up Celina and Maneca just like Maricota's parents couldn't avoid her getting pregnant by him and Astrée being born before they got married.
- You Didn't Ask: Nunu says a variation of this trope when talking about the old terreiro at Outeiro Redondo, in Cachoeira, where Umbelina lived.
