Ruler Pluto

In her debut novel for adults, journalist Cleusa Maria, who had already explored the world of children with *The Girl Who Didn't See the End of the World* in 2005, presents readers with a short and curious tragic love story. On New Year's Eve, four characters expose their conflicts, anxieties, and desires in this contemporary urban tragedy. In a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone, on a night of monumentally hot weather preceding New Year's Eve, a storm approaches, heralding the terrible event. In her penthouse, successful architect Violante dresses with care to celebrate yet another uncertain passage—to where, to what, with whom? For company, three bottles of champagne and two windows: one real, which she watches from the mansion across the street, the second, which opens onto virtual encounters. With the password 'Observer,' Violante meets 'Regent Pluto,' and falls in love with her seductive, provocative, trigger-happy partner—but in reality, a drug dealer passionate about philosophy and a married woman. Alongside the redheaded Irene, internet user Lúcio found meaning in life and escaped the hell to which he had been condemned by the ruler of his sign—the reckless Scorpio. The boy raised in the outskirts, dazzled by the city lights, bridged the gap by selling cocaine to numb, unmotivated citizens. Like Irene. As alcohol scrambles Violante's senses and ideas, Lucio develops a relentless lucidity. The lives and voices of these strangers will be entangled with the voices and lives of Irene and Enon, so close and yet unattainable. The sophisticated couple fulfills their marital life in diverse ways: she, giving body and soul to a criminal; He admires the woman as if she were a Manet painting. In a powerful and poetic narrative, Cleusa brings together the fates of the protagonists, caught in a moment of acute conflict and confrontation with their choices. In this disturbing story of growing tension, the encounter in the virtual world is a misunderstanding in real life.