A haunting exploration of the memories of three men and the reverberations of slavery, colonialism, and empire.

The discrete yet overlapping tales in Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida’sThree Stories of Forgettingexplore the lives of three menperhaps already dead in the eyes of Godwho live within the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and the spoils of the Portuguese Empire. They are all incarnations of our despair in the face of the questions that history does not answer. In “The Vision of the Plants,” Celestino, an old slave trader, returns to the solitude of his home and garden after a life of horrors. In “Seaquake,” Boa Morte da Silva, an Angolan who served on the Portuguese side in the Colonial War and has become a valet in Lisbon, writes to his daughter asking for forgiveness. And in “Bruma,” an old slave initiates a young Ea de Queiroz into the world of French literature, even as he finds himself trapped by his own demons.

Left to their agony, remorse, and guilt, or undeserved peace, the three men may be tormented ghosts who cannot find rest. Perhaps the land they aspire to, their home in this world, is a place hidden in their souls, somewhere between nowhere and goodbye. Their lives are unstable chapters in postcolonial history and allegories of the reading and rereading of that history, and of literature. All three have been expelled from their lives, sent on a solitary journey into the night.

Djaimilia Pereira de Almeidawas born in Luanda, Angola, and was raised in Portugal. She is the author of several prizewinning novels, includingThat Hair, a finalist for the PEN Translation Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared inGrantaandWords Without Borders, among other publications. She holds a PhD in literary theory from the University of Lisbon.

Alison Entrekinis an award-winning translator from the Portuguese. Her translations include Clarice LispectorsNear to the Wild Heart, Paulo LinssCity of God, and Joo Guimares Rosas modernist classicVastlands: The Crossing. Her work has earned her the PEN medallion for her body of work and the 2022 AAWP-UWRF Translators Prize.

• Publisher: FSG Originals
• Publish Date: December 9, 2025
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Type: Paperback
• EAN/UPC: 9780374612092
• BISAC Categories: Literary Fiction