Dan Brown and Clarice Lispector top the bestseller list. Two ABL Immortals Announce New Releases

Dan Brown’s new book, The Final Secret, topped the fiction bestseller list, followed closely by Clarice Lispector’s classic The Hour of the Star (first published in 1977).

That week, author and translator Dilce Waldrick de Amarante launches Interferences, which addresses the fear that telling the truth causes for critics, especially in hostile societies.

Two ABL immortals present their work. Godofredo de Oliveira Neto published the novel “The Novelist” and João Armino published “Diplomats, Writers, Immortals”, which collect the writings of writers who, like him, were also outstanding scholars and diplomats.

“Kintsugi” by María José Navia (Editora Rocco). Quote: That’s good.

In a social network-heavy society where filters, conformity, and vast resources are used to hide human imperfections, “Kintsugi” (2025) by Chilean María José Navia is a relief. The title (kin = gold, tsugi = mending) refers to the traditional Japanese art of piecing together broken pieces of pottery or porcelain using materials mixed with gold powder. This not only highlights the crack, but also adds value to it and gives it a unique personality. Similarly, the author tells the stories of three generations of characters from the same family and the particular ways in which their traumas, traits, and worldviews are repaired and disrupted over time.

The interest in the seventh art and the choice of the term Japanese for the novel’s title cannot be a mere coincidence. The way Navia delicately and unpretentiously depicts the everyday, yet highly symbolic and profound scenes of her characters is similar to the delicacy of Eastern cinema. The Chilean can be described as a lover of the seventh art, having published “Learning from Cinema” in 2003, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Ribera del Duero Prize. This intimacy with the screen can be seen in the action-built images and flowing narrative, leaving the association or “collage” of these elements to the reader.

Each chapter places a family member at the center of the scene, creating interesting insights into how the same event reverberates differently depending on who is alive. Changes in perspective also affect the way we identify with each of the characters and their conflicts, like different versions of the same story.

In some cases, the reader gains an “outside” perspective through an omniscient third-person narration. But in the case of three women from different generations of the family, Navya’s first-person narration invites us to inhabit the characters’ own minds and see through their eyes. In this case, the character Sophia stands out by starring in two chapters, each with a different voice. The effect is positive.

Despite their short length, each chapter strongly captures individual subjectivity because it is not limited to family relationships, but extends this vision to how the characters relate to other people, their bodies, their jobs, their homes, and the areas in which they choose to live.

Another important point is the description of what the characters do when they think no one is watching. What they hide, what they keep to themselves and don’t have the courage to reveal to the world. For example, stealing small things that “no one would miss” or reading someone else’s diary are unimaginable commonalities even among some of the characters. It’s like a secret hidden in the family, only between the author and the reader.

After all, the Toledo family seems to be united not only by their last name, but also by their empty space. Unspoken words, kept secrets, discomfort, and most importantly, resources for escaping loss. Losing a job, a father, a husband, a son, the love of your life, a shared dream, territory, and even yourself. Like Japanese tableware and pottery, kintsugi reveals the delicacy and fragility of each of us’ private worlds. It also encourages us to recognize when pieces can be rearranged and put back together, and when broken pieces are no longer repairable.

Finally, the arrival of Kintsugi in the Brazilian market is a good bet for Rocco. Navia, a 43-year-old writer and scholar, has published seven books, including novels and short story collections, making her an important figure in contemporary Chilean literature.

Flor Castillos is a journalist and actress

author: Dilce Waltrick de Amarante. Publisher: illumination. page: 144. price: 69 reals.

The author, a UFSC professor, writer, and translator, provokes debate. She begins the book by addressing critics who fear the hate that telling the truth can often provoke. Especially in the midst of a hostile society, any dissonant idea is a good candidate for “sealing”, especially if it fingers the wound of a “fashionable” person who only writes empty polemics.

author: Godofredo de Oliveira Neto. Publisher: boat. page: 156. price: 69 reals.

In this short, thought-provoking novel steeped in wild eroticism, Godofredo de Oliveira Neto, member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) and professor of Brazilian literature at UFRJ, challenges us to discover whether what the protagonist is telling us is truth or fiction. The author will launch the book this Monday, November 17th at 7pm in Travessa de Botafogo (Rua Voluntários da Pátria 97).

“Diplomat, Writer, Immortal”

Organization: Joan Armino. Publisher: Funagu. page: 496. price: 26 reals.

Another ABL immortal, João Armino, has compiled 18 texts by authors who are also distinguished scholars and diplomats. In the selection, the relevance of the work and its centrality to both Brazilian diplomacy and ABL were used as criteria. The launch will take place on ABL this Tuesday, November 18th at 5:30 pm, with a discussion between author Merval Pereira and ambassador Rafael Azeredo.

author: Edmond de Waal. translation: Alessandra Estes. Publisher: Essential. page: 192. price: 69.90 Real.

The British artist and writer tells the story of a Jewish family persecuted during the Nazi occupation of France through 58 fictional letters to Count Moise de Camonde, a banker and owner of the largest private collection of 18th-century French art. Count Moise de Camondo lived near his family home on Rue Monceau in Paris, where the Musée Nissim de Camondo is now located.

Text and images: Ezequiel Vitor Tusha. Publisher: FTD. page: 72. price: 76 Real.

Mixing criticism and allegory, this work gives voice to indigenous peoples, presents aspects of their worldview, questions historical narratives from a colonial perspective, and encourages young readers to listen to nature. Sometimes poetically, sometimes humorously, using comparisons and metaphors to reference oral tradition, the stories reflect history, culture, diversity, memory, and the environment.

• 1. “The Last Secret” Dan Brown (Archer)
• 2. “Startime”, Clarice Lispector (Rocco)
• 3. “The Maid” Frieda McFadden (Arrow)
• 4. “Midnight Library” Matt Haig (Bertrand Brazil)
• 5. “Verity”, Colleen Huber (male)
• 6. “The Love Hypothesis”, Ali Hazelwood (Arrow)
• 7. “The Secret Dinner”, Rafael Montes (Companhia das Letras)
• 8. “Absolute Batman 01” Scott Snyder (Panini)
• 9. “If It Wasn’t For You” Colleen Huber (Guys)
• 10. “Better than the Movies”, Lynn Painter (specific)

• 1. “Cafe Com Deus Pies Vol. 6 – 2026′, Junior Rostilola (Velos)
• 2. “Tired Society” Han Byung-chul (Nobilis Voices)
• 3. “Rich Thing”, Michelle Alcoforado (but)
• 4. “A unique team”, Marcelo Spaziani (Gente Authority)
• 5. “Tremembé”, Ulises Campbell (The Matrix)
• 6. “In Search of Meaning” Viktor E. Frankl (Editora Vozes)
• 7. “The Nice Girl Syndrome”, Harriet B. Breaker (bestseller)
• 8. “Women Who Run with Wolves” Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Rocco)
• 9. “Destroy This Diary” Kelly Smith (unique)
• 10. “Power and Manipulation,” Jacob Petrie (Faro Editorial)

• 1. “Elo Monsters Books”, Enaldinho (Pixel)
• 2. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid 20 – Insane Party”, Jeff Kinney (VR)
• 3. “Alchemized”, SenLinYu (unique)
• 4. “The Adventures of Mike 5 – On the Road”, Gabriel D’Aro, Manu Dilio (Outro Planeta)
• 5. “Diary of a Clumsy Princess” by Maidie Lacerda (Outro Planeta)
• 6. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” JK Rowling (Rocco)
• 7. “Coraline”, Neil Gaiman (true song)
• 8. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1”, Jeff Kinney (VR)
• 9. “Dive Into Darkness”, Ellie Cooper, Scott Cawthon (Inherent)
• 10. “The Villain’s Assistant”, Hannah Nicole Mailer (ALT)