K

A remarkable novel written by the Brazilian journalist Bernardo Kucinski. K is the story of a father who searches desperately for his daughter, ‘disappeared’ during the military dictatorship in Brazil. The father is himself a refugee from Poland in the 1930s. He is racked by feelings of guilt—that because he was immersed in his Yiddish writing and scholarship, he did not really know his daughter or the danger that threatened her. The novel is based on a true story – the disappearance of Kucinski’s younger sister in 1973. As the author says, ‘Everything in this book is invented but almost everything happened’.
The first Brazilian edition sold out in a few weeks, and the novel has been shortlisted for literary awards in Brazil and Portugal. Most recently it has been long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2015.

'A riveting novel and an important historical document... Always gripping'
Richard Got!

'This important and powerful novel ... lyrically translated from the Portuguese. Highly recommended'
Lindsey Hilsum

' ... a substantial literary work '
Hamilton Pereira (Pedro Tierra)

'Few tales have left such an impression on me, both for the tragic force of the narrative and for the feeling of revolt that it arouses'
J. Guinsburg

'I couldn 't stop reading from the first page to the last'
Gilberto Maringoni

'A masterpiece ... unique'
Alipio Freire

'A remarkable book! One of the best accounts, perhaps the very best, written on the theme of the disappeared'
Vladimir Sachetta