A Brazilian Voice in Fiction

Brazilian-born Anna K. Andrade, a resident of New York is one
of the contributors to Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of
Fiction & Poetry by Multicultural Writers. "A Daugher's Secret,"
which appears in the book is her first published story. It tells of
a girl who sees her mother cheating with a strange man.

Ernest Barteldes

 

It is quite hard to be very specific on a genre for Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of Fiction & Poetry by Multicultural Writers, for it comprises various kinds of fiction by a myriad of writers from all kinds of backgrounds. For instance, there is erotica, drama, adventure, poetry and other kinds of genres coming from writers from around the globe, including Brazilian-born Anna K. Andrade, a resident of Queens, New York.

Ms. Andrade got involved in the project when she saw a call for submissions on Poets & Writers magazine, and she contacted Pittsburgh-based Boice-Terrel Allen, the collection's editor, who quickly accepted her submission, "A Daughter's Secret", a story about a precocious twelve-year-old bookworm who struggles with the decision of telling or not her beloved father that she accidentally saw her mother cheating with a stranger in their bedroom early one afternoon:

"The images of that afternoon come back to her mind, and she decides she'll have to face it at some point: she can't go on forever trying to pretend nothing has happened"

The reason for her indecision is that her parents are both nurturing and kind to her and seem to have a loving relationship, and her revelation might destroy the seemingly perfect world they all live in:

"She's my mother, after all. I love her. But I love Dad too. It would hurt him enormously if he were to find out. But it's not fair. He has the right to know what his wife is doing behind his back. Even if it breaks his heart. But she's such a good mother. She'll hate me if I tell him."

Anna K. Andrade was born in Fortaleza, Brazil. Three years ago she moved to New York to pursue her Masters' Degree in Creative Writing, which she enrolled in the fall of 2001 at City College in Harlem, and will be concluding this Spring.

She established in New York early in 2001. She dabbled for a while in modeling and landed some bookings at magazines like Self and Latina, but she soon realized that her intellectual goals had little to do with that world.

"I never saw myself as beautiful," she told me, "and I felt that that world in which your substance really doesn't matter wasn't for me"

This writer mentioned her in a feature for The Staten Island Register (August 14, 2001) on the controversy that a Brazilian judge had been targeting underage, out-of-school models at one of that country's largest fashion festivals.

At the time, she commented that she was often disgusted to see so many teenagers neglecting their studies. "Although it might be glamorous for a lucky few," she said, "a career in modeling is a very short one, so one needs a backup plan."

"A Daugher's Secret" is her first published story.

Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of Fiction & Poetry by Multicultural Writers, edited by Boice-Terrel Allen, Rattlecat Press http://www.rattlecat.com

Available online or in bookstores - Price: $17.95

This article was originally published in The Staten Island Source.

Ernest Barteldes is an ESL and Portuguese teacher. In addition to that, he is a freelance writer who has regularly been contributing The Greenwich Village Gazette since September 1999. His work has also been published by Brazzil, The Staten Island Advance, The Staten Island Register, The SI Muse, The Villager, GLSSite and other publications. He lives in Staten Island, NY. He can be reached at ebarteldes@yahoo.com