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Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands

by Jorge Amado, Harriet De Onis (Translator)

3.93 · rating details · 1,203 ratings · 94 reviews

It surprises no one that the charming but wayward Vadinho dos Guimaraes–a gambler notorious for never winning—dies during Carnival. His long suffering widow Dona Flor devotes herself to her cooking school and her friends, who urge her to remarry. She is soon drawn to a kind pharmacist who is everything Vadinho was not, and is altogether happy to marry him. But after her we...more

Paperback, 576 pages

Published September 12th 2006 by Vintage (first published January 1st 1966)

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Community Reviews

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Jun 19, 2008

Cheryl rated it

This is a beautifully and imaginatively written story about an everyday woman who has to come to terms with different facets of her own personality and what that means about the men she falls in love with and how she loves them in return. She has trouble reconciling her emotions, which seem so contrary to her: her passionate, steamy, violent, up-and-down young romance with her first husband, who dies an untimely death, and her sedate, kind, gentle, secure, and structured but still caring and ten...more

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Nov 05, 2010

Joselito rated it

How many stories can you tell in thirteen pages? Jorge Amado (can we be friends? May I call you Jorge?) put five stories in thirteen pages, four of them untold. But even it these four stories were untold, the reader would know what these stories were. It is a demonstration of how to tell a story by not telling it.
The main story is that about Maria Batista, or "Maria of the Veil," narrated by Porciuncula, a mulatto. And despite the limited space, with the words crowding each other...more

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Aug 16, 2011

Aylin rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Aylin by: Marieke

Shelves: by-of-in-latin-south-america, fiction, magical-realism

"Vadhino, Dona Flor's first husband, died one Sunday of Carnival, in the morning, dressed up like a Bahian Woman, he was dancing the samba, with the greatest enthusiasm, in the Dois de Julho Square, not far from his house." That is the first sentence and it partially sums up the fun loving, roving gambler that was Dona Flor's first husband.

This book is about Dona Flor coming to terms with the men in her life and appreciating what each has to offer (unlike me who would have o...more

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Apr 20, 2010

Joyce Lagow rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: brasilian, literature

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands[return]Jorge Amado[return][return]Vadinho, that rascally, good-for-nothing, ne er-do-well gambler and womanizer, drops dead during the middle of Carnaval, leaving his wife Dona Flor a young widow. While her neighbors, friends, and especially her poisonous mother, all rejoice--at last Dona Flor is rid of that lowlife husband--Dona Flor herself is unconsolable. Yes, he was all those bad things--but he was also charming, funny and, most important of all, an absolut...moreDona Flor and Her Two Husbands[return]Jorge Amado[return][return]Vadinho, that rascally, good-for-nothing, ne er-do-well gambler and womanizer, drops dead during the middle of Carnaval, leaving his wife Dona Flor a young widow. While her neighbors, friends, and especially her poisonous mother, all rejoice--at last Dona Flor is rid of that lowlife husband--Dona Flor herself is unconsolable. Yes, he was all those bad things--but he was also charming, funny and, most important of all, an absolutely fantastic lover. Modest and upright (except in the iron matrimonial bed), Dona Flor simply can not explain to those around her why she continues to mourn.[return][return]But sooner or later, all things pass, and Flor does indeed marry again--Dr. Teodoro, who could not be more opposite than the scamp Vadinho. She is happy--but. And out of that "but" arises a situation that only the powers of magic and love can resolve.[return][return]On that thread of a story line, Amado wrote 622 pages of an affectionate, humorous paean to sensuality, Brasilian style. Flor is a genius at Bahian (Northeast Brasil) cooking , and food is as important in the story as it is in Brasilian life. But the focus of the story is on Flor and her struggle to be decent in the battle between spirit and matter, as she puts it--between her sense of what is right and her longing for her sexually athletic dead husband who lit her original fires and who still is the only one who can quench them totally.[return][return]The characters are wonderfully drawn; there are any number of the socially respectable as well as rogues, con artists, and neighborhood gossips. The description of Northeast Brasilian life in the Bahian capital of Ilheus in the mid-twentieth century is captivating. The practice of candombl�--a combination of Yaruba (West Africa) religion and Roman Catholicism--is very much alive both today in Brasil and in the book, and there are some lively, dramatic scenes involving Exu, Yamenj�, and other Yaruban deities in Amado's touch of magical realism.[return][return]Even by South American literature standards, this book is overly long; it could have been edited by 100 pages and still have been just as funny, just as sensuous and a better read. But that shouldn t stop anyone from reading this masterpiece of South American literature by one of Brasil s most famous authors.(less)

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Jan 21, 2012

Richard rated it

Rating: five enchanted stars of five

So, as I've explained on my profile over at LibraryThing, I've been in a book circle in RL for 17 years, and I posted our group reading list with my one-line assessments of the books. Most of those books I read long long long before I knew about LT or GoodReads, and so I've either never reviewed them or reviewed them for the long-vanished book blog.

Whatthehell, I figured, I should go back and glance over the list, maybe write some reviews o...more

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Nov 23, 2009

Harry Rutherford rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: around-the-world, south-america

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands is a novel about a cooking teacher whose first husband is a charming lowlife, who is always disappearing in search of wine, women, song and roulette, and her second marriage to an upright, responsible, devoted pharmacist who, for all his good qualities, is duller and more reserved. Especially in bed.

Having read the long and mildly tedious Island Boy, I picked it up in the hope it would be a bit more fun. It’s fiction, it’s Brazilian, all the blurbs on t...moreDona Flor and Her Two Husbands is a novel about a cooking teacher whose first husband is a charming lowlife, who is always disappearing in search of wine, women, song and roulette, and her second marriage to an upright, responsible, devoted pharmacist who, for all his good qualities, is duller and more reserved. Especially in bed.

Having read the long and mildly tedious Island Boy, I picked it up in the hope it would be a bit more fun. It’s fiction, it’s Brazilian, all the blurbs on the cover go on about it being exotic, sexy, tropical, the work of a great story-teller… all the kind of joyous clichés you’d hope for from the country that gave us Elza Soares, Ronaldinho and the caipirinha. I don’t only want to read books reinforce national stereotypes, but in a wet London November, a bit of Brazil seems quite tempting.

And more importantly, it was recommended by a friend. So after some of the deeply obscure, hit and miss books I’ve read for the Read The World challenge, I was hoping for something juicy and enjoyable. Something that was not likely to feel like a chore.

Sadly it didn’t quite hit the spot. Not because it doesn’t have all those Brazilian clichés: it starts with a character dying unexpectedly during carnival while dancing in full drag, and the whole book is full of gamblers and whores and serenades, and sex and food, and humour and social satire, and a bundle of other things besides. Just reading my own description of it almost makes me want to read it again; but the actual experience of reading it wasn’t so great.

Not that it’s a bad book, but it didn’t ever quite grab me; and after 550 pages, any book that you’re not actively enjoying is going to seem like a bit of a chore. I’d be hard pressed to identify any very glaring problems with it. The characters seemed a trifle two-dimensional — particularly the two contrasting husbands, who might as well be called Id and Superego, or Apollonian and Dionysian — and the plot is perhaps stretched a bit thin; but it might just as well be that I wasn’t in the right mood for it and tried to read too much of it when I was half asleep. So while I’m not about to give it a glowing endorsement, I wouldn’t want to be too negative, either. Pathetically non-commital, I know.(less)

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Jan 04, 2009

Sherry rated it

Read this in High School. Absconded from my Mom's Book Club Pick o' the Month!
My first grown-up book....since then, I've always had a soft spot for anything Brazilian, as well as, most of Amado's books.
I, personally, like the little 'side trips' into some of the 'minor' characters. His descriptions of life in Bahia, at that time, are wonderful and sensual. They do point out a number of social critisisms without beating you over the head....just 'humanizing' them.

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Mar 18, 2009

Makuka rated it

Na televisão, a minha atenção só fica realmente presa por três grandes amores, nomeadamente o desporto (sobretudo futebol), as telenovelas brasileiras e as séries. Daí que fosse inevitável que, um dia, as minhas escolhas literárias recaíssem sobre Jorge Amado - o autor brasileiro que tem mais obras adaptadas para televisão. O facto da novela Gabriela, Cravo e Canela ter marcado uma era na história da televisão nacional e ter ouvido críticas extremamente positivas levaram a que este fosse o prime...moreNa televisão, a minha atenção só fica realmente presa por três grandes amores, nomeadamente o desporto (sobretudo futebol), as telenovelas brasileiras e as séries. Daí que fosse inevitável que, um dia, as minhas escolhas literárias recaíssem sobre Jorge Amado - o autor brasileiro que tem mais obras adaptadas para televisão. O facto da novela Gabriela, Cravo e Canela ter marcado uma era na história da televisão nacional e ter ouvido críticas extremamente positivas levaram a que este fosse o primeiro livro a ler do autor. No final, uma certeza: não ficarei por aqui.
Assim que comecei a leitura, temi não gostar da escrita de Jorge Amado. É tipicamente brasileira - a escrita é igual à oralidade -, e, confesso, não sou grande apreciadora do idioma. Porém, assim que as páginas se foram seguindo, apaixonei-me. Esta particularidade da escrita confere-lhe um realismo tal que parece que estamos frente a frente com as personagens, dentro da acção. Há um misto de realismo, vivacidade e alegria que nos cativam.
A acção da obra passa-se em Ilhéus, uma pequena cidade do interior da Bahia, que tem vindo a prosperar graças à produção de cacau. Apesar do "progresso estar a chegar" (expressão que anda na boca de todos), os costumes continuam a ser ditados à lei da bala. Ainda assim, ao longo da obra, nota-se uma tentativa de ruptura com estas ideias por parte de algumas personagens. Esta dualidade suscita interrogações ao leitor, interessando-o, mas sem nunca o deixar assumir totalmente um dos lados.
Gabriela, Cravo e Canela é uma verdadeira caricatura da sociedade brasileira, onde deputados, fazendeiros, "jagunços", prostitutas e meninas de bem se misturam gerando uma profusão de estórias. No plano central, está o amor inesperado que nasce entre Gabriela, cuja saga por uma vida melhor é retratada, e Nacib, um árabe dono de um dos mais requisitados bares da região. Jorge Amado construiu personagens fortes, diferentes, e ao mesmo tempo iguais, do habitual e por cada uma nos convida a uma viagem imediata do presente ao passado e vice-versa, através da leitura de alguns parágrafos.
O encanto desta obra de Jorge Amado deve-se, igualmente, ao retrato de novas realidades. É verdade que as mentalidades são ainda fechadas, que há uma predominância masculina, mas Gabriela e Malvina, sobretudo, tentam marcar a diferença, lutando pelo que querem, nem sempre da forma mais consensual/convencional. Para mim, este livro é uma nova forma, bastante mais liberal, diga-se, de encarar e viver o amor. Fiquei rendida e com a certeza de que Jorge Amado não pode ser esquecido nas nossas bibliotecas. Adorei!(less)

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Jul 19, 2009

Joyce Lagow rated it

Shelves: brasil

Vadinho, that raascally, good-for-nothing, ne’er-do-well gambler and womanizer, drops dead during the middle of Carnaval, leaving his wife Dona Flor a young widow. Whileher neighbors, friends, and especially her poisonous mother, all rejoice--at last Dona Flor is rid of that lowlife husband--Dona Flor herself is unconsolable. Yes, he was all those bad things--but he was also charming, funny and, most important of all, an absolutely fantastic lover. Modest and upright (except in the iron matri...moreVadinho, that raascally, good-for-nothing, ne’er-do-well gambler and womanizer, drops dead during the middle of Carnaval, leaving his wife Dona Flor a young widow. Whileher neighbors, friends, and especially her poisonous mother, all rejoice--at last Dona Flor is rid of that lowlife husband--Dona Flor herself is unconsolable. Yes, he was all those bad things--but he was also charming, funny and, most important of all, an absolutely fantastic lover. Modest and upright (except in the iron matrimonial bed), Dona Flor simply can not explain to those around her why she continues to mourn.

But sooner or later, all things pass, and Flor does indeed marry again--Dr. Teodoro, who could not be more opposite than the scamp Vadinho. She is happy--but. And out of that but arises a situation that only the powers of magic and love can resolve.

On that thread of a story line, Amado wrote 622 pages of a paean to sensuality, Brasilian style. Flor is a genius at Bahian (Northeast Brasil) cooking , and food is as important in the story as it is in Brasilian life. But the focus of the story is on Flor and her struggle to be “decent” in the battle between spirit and matter, as she puts it--between her sense of what is right and her longing for her sexually athletic dead husband who lit her original fires and who still is the only one who can quench them totally.

The characters are wonderfully drawn; there are any number of the socially respectable as well as rogues, con artists, and neighborhood gossips. The description of Northeast Brasilian life in the Bahian capital of Ilheus in the mid-twentieth century is captivating. The practice of candomblé--a combination of Yaruba (West Africa) religion and Roman Catholicism--is very much alive both today in Brasil and in the book, and there are some lively, dramatic scenes involving Exu, Yamenjá, and other Yaruban deities.

Even by South American literature standards, this book is overly long; it could have been edited by 100 pages and still have been just as funny, just as sensuous and a better read. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from reading this masterpiece of South American literature by one of Brasil’s most famous authors.

(less)

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Jan 23, 2010

Benji rated it

Shelves: all-time-favorites, read-in-morocco, 2010, best-in-morocco

This is Middlemarch, written in modern times, that happens to be gloriously in Brazil and in some ways is even better. Add to that his censorship issues and exile, and its a compelling work of art. To contrast this with Middlemarch, I got more out of this because the social conventions and issues are not as dated, the conclusions are still scandalous and it feels like this could still happen now, while Middlemarch is stuck in its age . One of my new, top favorites. It's the same level of qua...more

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Apr 19, 2009

Marvin rated it

Shelves: fantasy

A book with everything; sly wit, erotic passion, voodoo, a ghost, rapturous meanderings over food, even a recipe or two. What do you serve at a funeral wake? Dona Flor can tell you. Dona Flor is in love with her husband but he is a womanizer, a gambler and a drunk and manages to die of a heart attack in the first chapter. Dona Flor is devastated but her friends thinks she should be lucky to be rid of such a loser. But he did have a certain something... Dona Flor finds a new husband and he is a f...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Aleeda Crawley rated it

If you've ever dated a sweet guy who bored you and a bad guy who was no good for you, then you will easily but perhaps unhappily empthasize with the situation in which Dona Flor finds herself. Yes, you know the good guy will be a wonderful partner, faithful, loving, and doting, but the bad boy iis so irresistable that he simply makes you keep thinking you can change him, and you never will. The story is funny, and like Dona Flor, we wish we could blend the two into one perfect prince. Against...more

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Mar 09, 2010

Katie Benedict rated it

This book will not end. I have disliked it from the very beginning, and it keeps getting worse! Flor (the main character) is an idiot! I just want to shake her. And why does it take 40 pages to say what should take one paragraph?

The entire story is way too wordy - not poetic, just repetitive and slow. We get it. You don't have to go on about it. I don't like any of the characters - they are all either "good" or "bad" or somehow moralistic. The book seems...more

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Apr 14, 2010

Sarah Owens rated it

I don't think I've ever read a novel so bursting with life, fun, color, personality. The main narrative is relatively simple: Dona Flor, a shy Brazilian woman, falls in love with and marries the very affable and passionate but unfaithful gambler Vadinho; when she remarries (but doesn't fall in love with) a more practical doctor after her first husband's death, the latter returns to haunt her. There are about a million subplots, most of them having to do with Flor's extended family and neighbors ...more

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May 16, 2010

FLieGeNschWeiN rated it

At times funny, bawdy, sexy, and beautiful, this book is a good example of magical realism. Written in the 1960s, it is also far ahead of its time in its portrayal of female sexual desire and patriarchal traditions. It also provides an interesting portrait of middle-class Bahian life.

At times, it was slow moving, especially in the beginning. The second husband isn't introduced until well into the second half of the book and some parts seemed overly drawn out. At times, the translati...more

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Jun 21, 2011

James rated it

Shelves: fiction, love

Jorge Amado`s book is a colourful, sexy, passionate and in places funny big hunk of a book which is also in its totality really boring.

I found reading a single page delightful and then my mind would wander and I would have to force myself to focus back in on the book page after page. The author just goes on and on and while each individual bit is charming enough it is too much of a good thing. For example the main idea in the book that Dona Flora is faced with a false choice between ...more

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Jan 26, 2012

Ariadna73 rated it

· review of another edition

Esta novelita es tan actual que uno puede sentir lo que siente esta p�cara protagonista a la que tanto le gusta lo que sabemos. Es un retrato de la vida de un pueblecito en Brasil, de la vida de una mujer com�n y corriente casada con un inutil comun y corriente, pero que es excepcional en la cama. Hasta qu� punto un buen amante puede someter a una mujer: un bandido que no serv�a para nada era ese Badi�o. Hasta le pegaba, no trabajaba, se jugaba todo el dinero en la ruleta, pero ella lo amaba demasiad...more

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Jul 13, 2010

Sergey Glushakov rated it

· review of another edition

Прочитал, как совершил путешествие в страну совершенно иных традиций, нравов и даже времен, где люди живут, будто играют роли в слегка экзальтированной мелодраме, где реалии жизни представлены нарочито урощенными декорациями. Тем не менее, во всех персонажах ты видишь прежде всего живых людей.

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Mar 09, 2007

amelia rated it

hot n sexy, with recipes

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Jun 01, 2011

Asmah rated it

The truth about human nature and human happiness is the message of this story. The middle-class inhabitants of a small neighborhood of Salvador, Bahia, have their traditional ideas about everyday life, behavior distinct from the practices of disreputable, immoral lowlifes, artists, and street-corner musicians elsewhere in the town. Their insularity is occasionally challenged by more progressive types among themselves, namely Dona Flor or Dona Norma. Do the deities influence them as well?... does...more

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Nov 16, 2010

Patty rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: latino-americana

Quanto è fortunata dona Flor! Ho letto "Dona Flor e i suoi due mariti" dopo un percorso di letture belle ma sconvolgenti, dolorose. Leggerlo è stato come farsi una doccia fresca dopo una lunga giornata di fatica e sudore.
Una lettura fresca, leggera, solare, ironica che mi ha regalato il sorriso e la voglia di lasciarmi tra ... (continua)

Ho letto "Dona Flor e i suoi due mariti" dopo un percorso di letture belle ma sconvolgenti, dolorose. Leggerlo è stato co...moreQuanto è fortunata dona Flor! Ho letto "Dona Flor e i suoi due mariti" dopo un percorso di letture belle ma sconvolgenti, dolorose. Leggerlo è stato come farsi una doccia fresca dopo una lunga giornata di fatica e sudore.
Una lettura fresca, leggera, solare, ironica che mi ha regalato il sorriso e la voglia di lasciarmi tra ... (continua)

Ho letto "Dona Flor e i suoi due mariti" dopo un percorso di letture belle ma sconvolgenti, dolorose. Leggerlo è stato come farsi una doccia fresca dopo una lunga giornata di fatica e sudore.
Una lettura fresca, leggera, solare, ironica che mi ha regalato il sorriso e la voglia di lasciarmi travolgere dal turbine voluttuoso di un samba irrefrenabile.
C'è tutto il Brasile con i suoi odori, sapori pungenti (il gusto piccante di ginepro, di pepe e di miele- il sale della vita- e la verità vera), colori vividi.
C'è il vocio incessante di strade popolate da vicine calorose, invadenti e pettegole; ci sono le sale da gioco dove perdere il tempo, il denaro e la stessa dignità; ci sono splendide mulatte dalle forme da mozzafiato che rallegrano i sensi e la vita.
C'è il Brasile con il suo carnevale, con il ritmo sfrenato del samba, i riti magici , le entità soprannaturali, maghi, indovini e cartomanti imbroglioni.
E c'è Dona Flor, mulatta di calda bellezza ed avvenenza, color di tè, dalle forme scultoree e lo sguardo languido.
Quanto è bella dona Flor! Quanto è fortunata Dona Flor!
Lei non dovrà scegliere tra l'amore fedele, devoto, rispettoso del suo secondo marito farmacista , metodico e ben organizzato ("un posto per ogni cosa e ogni cosa al suo posto" è il suo motto) e l'amore passionale, travolgente e tormentato di Vadinho, primo marito, donnaiolo, mascalzone, seduttore e irresistibile amante appassionato.
Eh sì, per essere felici si deve sempre avere bisogno di due amori, perché uno non basta a riempire il cuore. L'amore tenero e rispettoso, nobile e rispettabile e l'amore sballato, impuro e ardente che fa soffrire e di fronte al quale non c'è possibilità di fuga.
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Aug 12, 2011

Sonia Gomes rated it

Recommends it for: People who love humour, the ribald variety, and who do not judge others

Shelves: brazil, portuguese, lost-in-translation

Jorge Amado happens to be one of my favourite authors, but I do have a confession to make, I have such a deep affection for Latin American authors, Spanish as well as Portuguese. Amado is humorous in a ribald sort of way but what is most important about him, is that he is completely non judgemental.
I read “Dona Flor e seus dois Maridos"as an English translation and found it beautiful. The original Portuguese, however, is pretty much different, it deals with many more aspects of Brazili...moreJorge Amado happens to be one of my favourite authors, but I do have a confession to make, I have such a deep affection for Latin American authors, Spanish as well as Portuguese. Amado is humorous in a ribald sort of way but what is most important about him, is that he is completely non judgemental.
I read “Dona Flor e seus dois Maridos"as an English translation and found it beautiful. The original Portuguese, however, is pretty much different, it deals with many more aspects of Brazilian Culture that the English translation does not, but both are very good.
Coming back to the essence of the book, we all have two sides to our selves, and Dona Flor is no exception. As a young girl she marries Vadinho, the love of her life. Vadinho proves to be a wastrel, a bom vivão,who loves to gamble, whores around, for him the most important event is Carnaval. And then, much as Vadinho would have desired, he just drops down dead in the midst of the Carnaval festivities. Dona Flor is relieved, Dona Rozilda ecstatic - although everyone hated Dona Rozilda, Dona Flor’s mother, I loved her venomous tongue; her 'Brazilian Insults' had me in splits. Slowly, Dona Flor builds her business; she cooks and gives cooking lessons. Amado just loves Bahia, its food and most important azeite-de-dendê. Time moves on, Dona Flor is very secure financially, but something is missing, her students notice that she is not as alegre as she used to be earlier. What could be missing in her life, money? That she has. Respect? No chance everyone respects the pretty young widow. Just when she cannot bear this inner turmoil any longer she realises that the missing ingredient in her life is….Sex. Oh! how she misses her sexual dalliances with Vadinho. She now realises that those happy, fulfilling romps in bed are a thing of the past. Then her despair turns to joy, when the very staid and correct Teodoro proposes marriage to her. It is a meeting of minds and souls. Teodoro is a man with his own business, a cultured gentleman who loves classical music, has his own quartet. Could Dona Flor ask for more? Of course not, Teodoro is every woman’s dream; strong, reliable, dependable, any woman could entrust her future and life in Teodoro’s capable hands, a far cry from Vadinho. Or is he? Teodoro is a man of extremely regular habits; everything has its time and place and that includes sex. How can you have sex at prescribed, regular times sighs Dona Flor. Sex so regular and predictable that Dona Flor wants to scream and tear her hair in despair. Vadinho, O meu Vadinho, how she yearns for the much maligned Vadinho. We feel the turmoil in Dona Flor’s life. Here is Teodoro who loves her, treats her with respect, never deprives her of her hard earned money on the other hand we have Vadinho who only has his sexual expertise. How Dona Flor pines for Vadinho, her body cries out to him and in that yearning Goddess Yemanja comes to her aid. Yemanja with her magical powers ‘brings back Vadinho” and well…..you can only imagine how happy Dona Flor is, the romps are back and they are just as good as before Vadinho died.
The book has many facets to it; the central one of course being Dona Flor’s physical needs, her sexual cravings. Ironically both Vadinho and Teodoro save her from depravity. We could take a look at our darker inner selves, if of course we would be willing to admit to having one!
Jorge Amado, also shows us what it is to be a gambler, the hunger, the despair, the win are interwoven in this book, incidentally it is not pleasant to win all of the time, it takes away the edge of the game.
Amazing how this book leads us into so very many unexplored avenues, forcing us to think without prejudice
Vadinho sums the book when he as a ghost says,
"Tambem do meu amor precisas para ser feliz, desse amor de impurezas, errado e torto, devasso ardente, que faz sofrer"

(less)

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Aug 07, 2009

Heart Explosion! rated it

Recommends it for: Gabriel Garcia Marquez Fans

Shelves: yay-favorites

Few weeks ago I was going to a short beach vacations and I was in a classic drama of having my bookcase full and not sure what to pick up.
So I went here to Goodreads searching for some lights and I saw "Dona Flor e os seus dois maridos" with some great reviews. One of them said:

"hot n sexy, with recipes " ( Amelia)

Yes! That's just want I need, I thought. Sexy and exotic literature + margaritas + beach + boyfriend = Great combination. Where I go! ...moreFew weeks ago I was going to a short beach vacations and I was in a classic drama of having my bookcase full and not sure what to pick up.
So I went here to Goodreads searching for some lights and I saw "Dona Flor e os seus dois maridos" with some great reviews. One of them said:

"hot n sexy, with recipes " ( Amelia)

Yes! That's just want I need, I thought. Sexy and exotic literature + margaritas + beach + boyfriend = Great combination. Where I go!

Now, that my vacations and book are over, I feel that I have a few words to say:

"Dona Flor..." is a brilliant and super funny comedy of manners and I think "hot and sexy" are the perfect adjectives which better define this story.

It may sounds trashy, but trust me, it's not. Jorge Amado was an incredible writer and he truly did a great job here. I love when a writer talks about sex without using ridiculous metaphors or nauseous romantic expressions. Seriously, it puts me sick.
Fortunately, Amado talks about it using the same tone he talks about friendship, love , hate, death or ... a great meal!
"Dona Flor... " was my first Amado book and I must say that it was a great experience. It reminds me a lot Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and, between us, I think Laura Esquivel read this book and took some serious notes before she wrote "Like water for chocolate". ;)

I was very glad for reading the original Portuguese Brazilian version. Amado uses a really funny and very own brazilian speech during the story which is very difficult to adapt to Portuguese of Portugal and it makes me feel curious about how the translators translate this work in to other languages, trying to keep the original spirit.

All characters are juicy in a way or another. I personally love the "devilish" Dona Rosilda. I think it is the most real fictional character I ever found in a book. I mean, she's exactly like my aunt, and I totally understand what Amado means.
The main character, Dona Flor, is the typical Brazilian girl: a brunette with black hair with a gorgeous and voluptuous figure. She is conservative, gay, very honest and a real hard worker as cookery teacher in her small school " Sabor e Arte" ( curious note: these three words together sounds like " Taste you" in portuguese).

" Dona Flor e os seus dois maridos" is a GREAT summer reading: it "tastes" like Brazil, samba and caipirinhas. The sex scenes are not offensive but sex is always around, and honestly, in this particular case I appreciate that. :)(less)

· see review

Oct 23, 2011

Mari rated it

I read this book in High School in Brazil and up to this date I can still remember the characters and the story. It is funny, witty and sexy. The main character, Dona Flor, experiences love with two men of totally different personalities. One irresponsible and womanizer but fun to be with, the other very responsible, faithful but boring to be with.
Jorge Amado is one of the best modern Brazilian writer and he shows you why in this book.

· see review

Oct 30, 2011

Mary Ann added it

Shelves: given-up

I'm sure this is an excellent book, just not the type to read on a road trip. Tried to pick it up several times during the past few weeks, but was so easily distracted by all the new outside stimuli that I couldn't really concentrate on it. The author has a style unlike any I've ever read before. Saw the movie years ago and really appreciated it. I'll try to take it up again when I have more time to concentrate on it.

· see review

Aug 21, 2009

Artemisa rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed, em-portugues, life-stories, ghosts

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

· see review

Jan 07, 2010

Erkan rated it

I thought it started off brilliantly. You really get a feel for the community where it is set. It's light hearted but I really did care for and warm to a lot of the characters in the story.
But it gets a bit dull after half way through and it never really picks up again. There was far too much repetition in it as well. Quite annoying after you have already read 300 pages or so.

good book though.

· see review

Dec 01, 2009

Alberteinsteinmaloney rated it

Lovely, enjoyable, warm, rich (rica!) and full of life. A warning and a delight.

This fabulous novel takes man's eternal struggle between the madonna and the whore and flips it on its head! A witty and wise "parable" of the dangers of getting what you want, learning what you want and finding that, even if you can't always get what you want, you just may find you get what you need. ;)

· see review

Jun 21, 2009

Melissa rated it

An allegorical story of marital, family and societal relationships set vividly in Brazil. Amado's cynicism about the upper class and sympathy for the poor comes through loud and clear in nearly every page. It took me a little while to engage, but once I did, it was a sensual and fun read. I found it a little verbose, which may be due to the fact it is a translation.

· see review

Sep 17, 2010

Caty Simon is currently reading it

Pre-finishing-the-book first impression: This isn't the edition of the book I'm reading, but I couldn't find mind. This promises to be quite an enchanting book, a sensual but thoughtful book. I just hope there's no magical realism (the plague of South Anmerican writers.) I've only read two short chapters but I love it so far.

· see review

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About Jorge Amado

Jorge Amado de Faria was a Brazilian writer of the Modernist school. He was the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, his extensive work having been translated into some 30 languages and popularized in film, notably Dona Flor and her Two Husbands, (in Portuguese, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) in 1978. His work dealt largely with the poor urban black and mulatto communities of Bahia.
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