Maira

On the surface, this unusual first novel set in the Brazilian interior concerns the investigation of the mysterious death in childbirth of a white Brazilian woman, Alma, while living among the Mairun Indians. Alma's personal quest for identity and meaning in life, which brought her into the forest, coincides with the return of Isaias/ Ava, a Mairun, who left his people years earlier to become a Catholic priest. After several years in Rome, Isaias finds himself unable to shed his fundamental Indian identity and comes back to take his rightful place as Ava, chief of the Mairun.

Darcy Ribeiro, a renowned anthropologist, an authority on South American Indian culture, an expert on the effects of Brazilian contact with the Indians and currently the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, is uniquely qualified to write this complex novel of contemporary Brazilian society and Indian culture. Mr. Ribeiro has produced a devastating portrayal of the future for both the Indians and Brazil.