Crow Blue (26 page)

 

Would I have done things differently, if it were up to me – if I'd had choices, if I'd had a card deck of lives and could have chosen one instead of another? I would have. Not everything. I'd have changed just one detail, only one, at the end of a scene that took place over two decades ago.

My version would be like this:

The highways are an adventure in December in this part of the world. Fernando was on the road for much more than the usual six hours between cities on Interstate 25. There was snow and ice on the road. He left behind Trinidad, former residence of Bat Masterson and, in those days, the world sex change capital thanks to the operations conducted by the famous Dr. Stanley Biber. He passed a sign saying WELCOME TO NEW MEXICO LAND OF ENCHANTMENT and saw in his rear-view mirror a sign saying WELCOME TO COLORFUL COLORADO, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west.

When he arrived in Albuquerque I was in my room dreaming pint-sized dreams, dreams that were the size of my life, that fit easily through the bars of the crib. He and my mother embraced with the force of how deeply they missed one another. He went to bed with her. Later, after midnight, she made some soup and they sat in front of the Christmas tree to sip it.

It was supposed to be for good. And it was.

Thank You

To the University of New Mexico, especially Professor David Richard Jones, and to the University of Texas in Austin, especially Professor Sonia Roncador. For the home away from home and help with my work, I thank Leila Lehnen, Jeremy Lehnen, Malcolm McNee and Erô Silva. I would also like to thank Taís Morais, Cristina Brayner and Giulia Gurevitz. And my agents Nicole Witt and Jonah Straus.

A Note on the Translator

ALISON ENTREKIN
’s translations include
City of God
by Paulo Lins,
The Eternal Son
by Cristovão Tezza,
Near to the Wild Heart
by Clarice Lispector and
Budapest
by Chico Buarque. She has translated short fiction for numerous anthologies and literary magazines, including short stories by Tatiana Salem Levy and Carola Saavedra for
Granta 121: Best of Young Brazilian Novelists
. She is a three-time finalist in the New South Wales Premier’s Translation Prize & PEN Medallion.

A Note on the Author

Brazilian author
ADRIANA LISBOA
was born in Rio de Janeiro and currently resides in the United States. She has published eleven books, among which six novels, a collection of short stories and prose poetry, and books for children. Her work has been translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Romanian and Serbian, and will shortly appear also in Arabic.

Among her honors are the José Saramago Prize for her novel
Symphony in White
, a Japan Foundation Fellowship for her novel
Hut of Fallen Persimmons
, a fellowship from the Brazilian National Library, and the Newcomer of the Year Award from the Brazilian section of IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) for her book of poetry for children, Língua de trapos (
A Tongue Made of Scraps
). In 2007, Hay Festival/Bogota World Book Capital selected her as one of the thirty-nine highest profile Latin American writers under the age of thirty-nine.

With degrees in Music and Literature, Adriana Lisboa performed as a Brazilian Jazz singer while living in France, and subsequently worked as a music teacher in Rio. She also translated into Portuguese such authors as Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Maurice Blanchot.

By the Same Author

Symphony in White

Hut of Fallen Persimmons

Copyright © 2013 by Adriana Lisboa

by arrangement with Literarische Agentur Mertin

inh. Nicole Witt e.K. and Straus Literary

English translation © 2013 by Alison Entrekin

Work published with the support of Ministry of Culture of Brazil / National Library Foundation.

Obra publicada com o apoio do Ministério da Cultura do Brasil / Fundação Biblioteca Nacional.

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eISBN: 978-1-62040-337-2

First U.S. Edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury USA
This electronic edition published in July 2014

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