David Vogel
Day of the Dragonfly begins in rural Brazil in the mid-1930s. Persistent drought in the state of Ceará has João’s family on the edge of starvation, and the fourteen-year-old boy is sent by his parents on a long, footsore journey to find a better place. Ill health and fear of being embarrassed by his own ignorance drive his psychological deterioration.Dragonfly ends in 1975 on a cheap chaise longue sitting in front of a camping trailer. Few readers will escape the complex emotions waiting on the last page.The novel is divided into three 'books' - each inspired by the life of a real person and focused on the curses of poverty. In the traditional world of publishing, these stories would be sold, more profitably, as a trilogy. However, their tight integration and engaging cross-links insist on their being contained inside the same cover.
