The Water House

By Antônio Olinto

Antonio Olinto presents a fictionalized account of the return of Brazilian black families to Lagos Nigeria in 1890 s. A very unique account. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 088184229X
• ISBN13: 9780881842296
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

going back

an incredible accumulation of events, ideas and emotions using language in a non-stop, tumbling combination of words reminiscent of, or heralding, marquez et al. takes you to bahia and africa feeling you are part of the saga yourself. at times one might feel a bit overwhelmed by family lineage, but a detailed listing and glossary takes care of that. strong characters, powerfully and deftly etched. fills in spaces in the history of exile and return.

Nigeria and the "Brazilians"

It's been at least ten years since I read this, and I lent my copy out. It isn't a great book, but it is the only book I know that deals with the return of the freed slaves of Brazil to Lagos. Everyone knows about Liberia, about Marcus Garvey, about other well-publicized ideas about returning former slaves to Africa, but the only real mass movement took place from Brazil to Lagos beginning in the 1880s. Written by a Brazilian author and translated into English, The Water House is a fictionalized account of the DaRocha family, one of the returnee families that became wealthy selling water in Lagos (selling water in a city which is regularly flooded during the rainy season!). You still find descendents of the "Brazilians" in Lagos, and as late as the 1950s there was a regular carnival. This book is a "must" for anyone interested in the history of Africa and the Americas. Order it so that it goes back into print!