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Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Part One
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Part Two
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Part Three
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. Thirty-Five
  43. Thirty-Six
  44. Thirty-Seven
  45. Thirty-Eight
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Part Four
  51. Forty-Three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. Fifty-Two
  61. Fifty-Three
  62. Epilogue
  63. Author’s Note
  64. Acknowledgments
  65. Discover More
  66. Reading Group Guide
  67. Discussion Questions
  68. ESSAY FROMDIANA GIOVINAZZO
  69. Antoinette’s Sister
  70. Chapter One
  71. Chapter Two
  72. About the Author
  73. Praise forThe Woman in Red

“What’s the harm? Anita, we need to wipe the Brazilian army from here if Rio Grande do Sul ever expects to be a free and independent nation.” He sat down with a huff.

Sitting next to him, I took his wrist into my hands, in order to massage it. “What do you think?” he asked.

What did I think? This was a question José never asked me. What do I think? I pondered on the question a little longer, carefully choosing my words. “I think Canabarro has a point.”

José ripped his arm from me. “What do you mean by that?” His lip curled up in a sneer.

“You asked my opinion and I gave it.”

“But that’s not the opinion you are supposed to give.”

“Pardon me, José Garibaldi?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “When we are in public, I will stand by you no matter what. If you say we need to go left, I will tell everyone that going left is the best course of action, even if we should really be going right. However, when it’s you and me, I will not hesitate to let you know my true feelings.”

“And what, my dear wife, are your true feelings? That I am an idiot? That I don’t know what’s best for Rio Grande do Sul? Am I rash? Can I not think about what will happen tomorrow?” He was a caged jaguar pacing in front of me.

“José, I do not think you are an idiot.” I stood, readying myself for conflict. “We are fighting a losing battle. We may be winning little skirmishes here and there, but we are losing this war. The Imperial forces keep coming after us; how long are we going to be able to continue fighting? We have to keep in mind that when this is over, our men will have to go back to the families of those Imperial soldiers and beg for forgiveness. They are not just nameless faces. These people come from the same villages. They are neighbors. They are family.” José turned away from me. I took a step forward, continuing with my argument. “When we are done fighting they have to be able to go on living together. Let us only do the fighting that is absolutely necessary.”

“Only do the fighting that is necessary? I came here because they needed me. When I left Genoa, I sailed all over the Mediterranean. I could have kept on sailing, but the republic asked me to be here, they asked me to win this war for them. And like an idiot I said yes. Now that they have me, they don’t want to listen to me! They don’t want to do what is necessary to win!”