Vista Chinesa: A Novel

Inspired by a real event, this is the story of a woman and a city that were violated.

It is 2014. There is euphoria in Brazil, especially in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup is about to take place, and the 2016 Olympics are in sight. It is a time of hope and of frenzied construction.

Jolia is a partner with an architecture firm that is planning projects for the future Vila Olimpica. During a break from one of these meetings at the town hall, Jolia goes for a run in Alto da Boa Vista. Suddenly, someone puts a revolver to her head, takes her to a secluded spot, and rapes her. Left abandoned in the woods, she drags herself home, where her boyfriend and some family members wait for her.

Vista Chinesa brings light and shadow to a city whose stunning beauty cannot conceal the most serious human and political problems. This is a novel that turns a tragic, real chapter in the story of a woman into great literature.

‘An impressive power, which takes us by storm in the first pages … as if the book were the forest itself, to accompany with extreme distress, with half-closed eyes, the maximum harshness.’ -Julian Fuks, Brazilian writer and literary critic

‘And that is what Vista Chinesa does- surviving a rape is not a shame, but a victory.’ -Antonia Pellegrino, award-winning writer and screenwriter