Brazil, 1971, a country in the tightening grip of a military dictatorship. Life in the Paiva household is warm and jovial, despite the ongoing threat of arrests. All this changes when patriarch Rubens, a former congressman, is ushered away to be interrogated by the military. Soon after, officers come for Eunice, holding her twelve days in a windowless prison as they try to persuade her to incriminate friends accused of leftwing activities. Eunice emerges from prison transformed, embarking on a journey to expose the government’s illegal activities and refusals to acknowledge their role in the disappearances of thousands of innocent citizens.
"When I first read the book, I was deeply moved. For the first time, the story of the desaparecidos, the people snatched from their lives by the Brazilian dictatorship, was being told from the perspective of those left behind. In the experience of one woman – Eunice Paiva, a mother of five –there was both the story of how to live through loss and a mirror of the wound left on a nation. It was also personal: I knew this family and was friends with the Paiva children." (Walter Salles)