Novels set in Brazilian exile during the military dictatorship are rare. The plot of "Exiled Loves," by renowned Santa Catarina novelist Godofredo de Oliveira Neto, fills this gap and shows how those cavernous times in Brazilian history, with clashing political and ideological trends, can explain the country today. As the title suggests, the novel is also a love story, involving a desperate triangle between Santa Catarina native Fábio and Bahia native Lázaro—expatriates in Paris who are members of the political group Aliança Socialista Libertadora—and Frenchwoman Muriel, who is dating the former and previously had an affair with the latter. "Loving in exile heightens sensitivity," explains Godofredo, who, at the same time as the book's action, studied literature in France. Originally published in 1997 under the title "Pedaço de santo," the novel—about to be adapted into a film—received textual tweaks and the insertion of new information that ultimately altered the narrative and the characters' trajectories, resulting in a completely new book, following a conceptual line already used by writers such as Marguerite Duras and Autran Dourado. "Monet painted Rouen Cathedral 40 times. Some of these paintings seem absolutely identical. But the slight modification of light and color makes each painting different from the other. The same thing happens in literary texts," comments the writer. In the 1970s, French political turmoil contrasted with oppression in Brazil, which was becoming distant, impossible. Somehow, however, loss and dispossession find solace in the streets, bars, and other spaces where the young people circulate, crossing paths with other comrades forced by arbitrariness or a lack of prospects to leave their countries. Hailing from regions as different as Lázaro's Bahia and Fábio's Florianópolis, the two Brazilians, forced to leave the country during the leaden years of military rule, share a rootless existence, far from family and friends, with the Frenchwoman Muriel, a kind of self-exile from her past in her own country. While following the characters' plight, the book reviews and discusses the major political events of the time—the Brazilian military dictatorship, the situation in Cuba, the fall of Allende in Chile. As critic Beatriz Resende, who wrote the book's blurb, aptly defines it, "the youthfulness and sensuality that permeate Godofredo de Oliveira Neto's narrative make the novel not only a testament to an era, but also a narrative of seduction: of the city, of ideas, and, above all, of Muriel Melusina." While experiencing an overwhelming passion for the fickle and enigmatic Muriel, Fábio must deal with his own political questions, activism, exile, and even jealousy and restlessness. Until he finds himself compelled to return to Brazil to participate in a terrorist operation alongside his girlfriend's ex-lover, and face his own demons in a desperate reckoning. But "exile is a path of no return, even when the exile returns," as Beatriz Resende argues. "The condition of exile, of not belonging, and of deprivation leave an indelible mark, sticking to the body and soul. The exile is exiled forever, even if they try to escape this condition. Solidarity has limits; restlessness or paranoia do not. Ghosts of the past, of tortures of various kinds, permeate and make the present impossible." This is true for both those exiled from their homeland and from love.
