This is one of the most meta stories I have ever read. It is extremely short coming in at around 90ish pages ( I have the centennial edition). The story narrates a narrator who is detailing the life of a tragic woman named Macabea. The narrator yearns to learn what makes Macabea so free. She is ugly, illiterate, gullible, clingy, and utterly unlovable, but somehow happy. The book does a great job of testing our empathy and trust, and really challenges us to see which perspective we trust and believe. The book is very quick but is written with somewhat difficult syntax and punctuation. This could be up to the fact that it was translated from Portuguese, but it doesn’t affect the overall experience at all. I absolutely loved this book, it’s hilarious, it’s devastating, and it’s lush. My favorite section is towards the end with the brothel fortune teller she’s fucking hilarious and great.