Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Part Two
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Part Three
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Part Four
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Epilogue
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- Reading Group Guide
- Discussion Questions
- ESSAY FROMDIANA GIOVINAZZO
- Antoinette’s Sister
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- About the Author
- Praise forThe Woman in Red
José gave me an exaggerated pout. “As you wish, tesoro mio. Under Napoleon we were left alone to be our own country. We were unified under him. Suddenly, having a country all our own wasn’t crazy talk. We were finally one. However, after Napoleon fell, the European powers broke us apart. They pitted us against each other yet again. But the dream is still alive.” José broke his hand free from mine as it found its way south. My fingers tangled in his golden curls as I gave in to the passion.
Sixteen
Sixteen
May 1840
We slashed our way through the thick underbrush that lined the Caminas River toward Praia Grande. It had been just over five months since that night at the waterfall. In those twenty weeks we discovered that I was with child.
I grew tired of everyone treating me like I was going to break. It was infuriating. Suddenly my life wasn’t my own; a future person was sucking away everything that I was. My temper flared over the slightest infraction, causing people at camp to avoid me.
I still thirsted for action. When my mother had been pregnant, she had sat in her bed with her feet raised, ordering everyone about, for the sake of her babies, she would say. She instructed every woman with child that this was the way to act during a pregnancy if you wanted a healthy baby.
Between the constant digestive discomfort and the awkwardness of carrying so much extra weight in front of me, I hated being pregnant. It was against everything I was told that a mother-to-be should feel, and that scared me.
Every night I dreamed that we picked up camp and left my baby. José would be yelling for me to hurry up, constantly asking if I had remembered certain things. I remembered them all, all but my baby.
Early one morning, during an especially traumatic nightmare, I awoke in my bed with a start. Looking around I noticed José was gone. I dressed and washed my face in the basin, trying to banish the dreams that still clung to me. As I dried my face, I heard my stomach gurgle. I placed my hand to my growing abdomen. “All right, little one, I’ll get us fed.”
I made my way out of the tent and set about cooking breakfast. José came stomping up to our camp. “I can’t believe the stupidity!” he yelled, snapping my attention from the fire to him.
“Do I dare ask who has made you so angry?”
“Canabarro, of course!” He threw his arms up in frustration.
“What transgressions has he committed today?”
José scowled at me. “The bastardo wants to walk away from the war. He wants to let the Imperial forces win.”
“If he can find an amicable peace, what is the harm?”