In her second solo book, writer and journalist Martha Mendonça confesses that she even considered changing the channel, but the feminine theme ends up "overriding the alternatives." After delving into the reality of contemporary women in "Mulheres no Ataque" (written in partnership with Carla Rodrigues); adopting the feminine perspective of a relationship in the novel co-written with her husband (and fellow journalist) Nelito Fernandes in "Eu e você, você e eu" (I and you, you and I); and incorporating characters that subvert the cliché that only men are scoundrels in "Canalha, noun feminine" (Canalha, noun feminine), Martha delves once again into the world of women in her new novel. And this time, into a very particular one: that of women in their forties. Paula thought she had it all, but, on the eve of her 40th birthday, what seemed certain turns upside down: she loses her job and is replaced by another. Instead of the stability expected of so-called "middle age," she faces a new beginning. From emptiness and despair, a different woman is born—and, who knows, perhaps better than the one so full of certainties and marked paths. With a healthy dose of reality and purity, but without neglecting the humor and irony characteristic of her writing, the author conveys well what it means to be a 40-year-old woman: having the dreams, innocence, and fear of a lost little girl left behind, but also possessing the wisdom, clarity, and melancholy of a seasoned woman waiting for her ahead. Unlike the protagonist, the author's 40th birthday came without any major setbacks, except for an "internal upheaval" that made her reflect deeply on what age meant. "A moment when most people imagine they'll have their lives—personal, professional, financial—settled, ready to calmly reap the fruits of what was sown. But obviously, that's not the case for many people. Maybe for most." With this in mind, she imagined what a character whose life turned upside down at this very moment would be like. And so Paula was born, whose big turning point came with the discovery that being forced to start over in middle age can be a gift from destiny.
