''Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon'' ( pt, Gabriela, cravo e canela) is a Brazilian

modernist novel Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented ...

. It was written by

Jorge Amado Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...

in 1958 and published in English in 1962. It is widely considered one of his finest works. A film adaptation of the same name was created in 1983.

Plot summary

''Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon'' is a romantic tale set in the small Brazilian town of

Ilhéus Ilhéus () is a major city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil, 211 km south of Salvador, Brazil, Salvador, the state's capital. The city was founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the mos ...

during the 1920s. The town is experiencing a record large cacao crop, which makes it a thriving place and gives it an economic upswing and great progress. Still there is a conservative streak among the town folk and they are still relying on old traditions, like violent political takeovers and vengeance against unfaithful women. The book tells two separate but related tales: first, the romance between Nacib Saad, a respectable bar owner of

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

origin, and his new cook Gabriela, an innocent and captivating

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...

from the impoverished interior. The gap between the worlds of Nacib Saad and Gabriela make their romance a challenge to the unwritten rules of Ilhéus society and will subsequently change the two of them forever. The second part to this story is about the political struggle between the seasoned cacao plantation owners, with the powerful Bastos clan in pole position, and the forces of

modernization Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

, in the person of Mundinho Falcão, a wealthy young man from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. It can be read simultaneously as an unusual, charming love story, a description of the political and social forces at work in 1920s Brazil, a somewhat satirical depiction of

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

aspirations to "modernity", and a celebration of the local culture and pleasures of Bahia.

Theme and settings

''Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon'' gives the reader a peek into a small town community on the brink of a grand transformation. Ilhéus is an inviting little place with a good mix of culture and quite a few originals to color everyday life. In the mid-1920s, the Brazilian provinces were suffering under the political, social, and economic dominance of the

cacao plantation ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

owners – the "colonels" ( pt, coronéis). They sit at the very top of the societal structure and control the region, having the absolute majority of the political power. In this story though, there is a new kid in town, Mundinho Falcão, a man who recently moved to

from

. He has a sole purpose: to seize the political power from these "

colonels Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

". The town patriarch, Colonel Ramiro Bastos, disapproves of the outsider's interference and vows not to surrender without a fight. The colonels run the local governing administration of both major political parties, thus control all decisionmaking and with violence if necessary hold on to their large estates that supply the means upon which everything and everyone depends. They are the

plutocratic A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established ...

rulers of what could be called a purely feudal society, aided by complicated system of allegiances built upon mutual interest, reciprocal favors and kinship.

Adaptations

The book was made into series for Brazilian television in 1961. It was also adapted into the 1975 telenovela ''

Gabriela Gabriela may refer to: * Gabriela (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian feminine given name * ''Gabriela'' (1942 film), a Czech film * ''Gabriela'' (1950 film), a German film * ''Gabriela'' (1983 film), a Brazilian film * ''Gabriela' ...

'' and into the 2012 telenovela ''

''. The feature film ''

'' was directed by

Bruno Barreto Bruno Villela Barreto Borges (born 16 March 1955) is a Brazilian film director. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Barreto has been making feature-length films ever since he was 17 years old and remains one of Brazil's most accomplished and pop ...

in 1983. The feature version starred

Sônia Braga Sônia Maria Campos Braga (; born 8 June 1950) is a Brazilian actress. She is known in the English-speaking world for her Golden Globe Award–nominated performances in '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (1985) and ''Moon over Parador'' (1988). She ...

as Gabriela and

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

as Nacib, and featured original music by

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

. The book has been translated into English and other languages as ''Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon''.

References

{{Authority control Novels by Jorge Amado 1958 novels Brazilian novels Portuguese-language novels Novels set in Bahia Fiction set in 1925 Brazilian novels adapted into films