The Baby in the Picture: A Novel

Danielle Bassi

Imperador do Agreste was everything but a tourist destination. The only international recognition it had was as one of the poorest places in Brazil. It never left the bottom of the human development index. Nationally, it was recognized as the land of Colonel Coutinho, one of the richest farmland owners and entrepreneurs in the country.

Leaving Imperador do Agreste had been Geraldo’s childhood dream, but the responsibility of feeding his family after his father’s brutal murder chained him behind the bar’s counter. All he could do then was watch others leave, including his childhood friend, Eusebio.

Thirty years later, American woman named Claire turns up in town in search of her biological family. As Geraldo becomes closer to the newly-arrived woman, Eusebio, who he thought was long dead, returns to town as a wealthy Pentecostal preacher. He promises the local population to eradicate the curse that has afflicted them for generations: poverty.

While everyone is praising Eusebio as the next saviour, Geraldo is the only one who knows the real reason why his childhood friend left town decades ago.

The Baby in the Picture is a debut novel about contemporary Brazil that challenges the widespread notion of a liberal country while shedding light on the untold secrets of international adoption.