The Garlic Tree, by Ellen Bromfield Geld (1970)
Wealthy American Annie Bancroft married Jacinto Madurai and left the world she knew to move to the wilderness of Brazil. Jacinto’s family owned acres of farmland in Brazil’s Mato Grosso. There are few people on the land other than Jacinto’s family and the farm workers. Annie must travel miles to the nearest city.
The Brazilians called the land the Terra de Pau D’Alho, the land of the Garlic Tree, which symbolizes good, rich earth. The Madureira’s are taming the land when the Communists discover the land as an ideal spot for the activities of the Ligas Camponese.
This book feels largely autobiographical. The author, Ellen Bromfield Geld, is an American who married and moved to the fazenda in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She uses too many Portuguese terms, which she doesn’t define, which makes this book cumbersome to read. Furthermore, I couldn’t get a good fix on the characters, they were neither likeable, nor un-likeable.
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