The Sphinx

THE SPHINX ("Esfinge") published in 1908 by Brazil's Coelho Neto, and here translated into English for the first time, is a strange mixture of Symbolist and Occult Novel, concerning a boarding house in Rio de Janeiro whose characters are attracted to, annoyed with or intrigued by their mysterious fellow boarder, Englishman James Marian, who possesses a virile masculine body but the beautiful features of a woman. Our narrator agrees to translate a strange text for Marian, one which reveals his complicated and metaphysical origins, even as tragedy strikes the small compliment of friends and associates. An intriguing, if abstracted, meditation on gender and love, this novel deserves a larger audience. Includes an Afterword by the Translator.

Ficção / Horror / Literatura Brasileira / Romance / Terror