NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER

"Disarmingly tender and feverishly sad, Gardel's love story is a delirium of a novel that reminds its readers of an uncomfortable truth: that even a life of regret can be a beautiful one." -- Patrick Nathan, author of The Future Was Color


A letter has beckoned to Raimundo since he received it over fifty years ago from his youthful passion, handsome Cicero. But having grown up in an impoverished area of Brazil where the demands of manual labor thwarted his becoming literate, Raimundo has long been unable to read. As young men, he and Cicero fell in love, only to have Raimundo's father brutally beat his son when he discovered their affair. Even after Raimundo succeeds in making a life for himself in the big city, he continues to be haunted by this secret missive full of longing from the distant past. Now at age seventy-one, he at last acquires a true education and the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazil's little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, and shame, along with their flip sides: survival, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society's margins. The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.

• We started tracking this book on September 13, 2023.
• This book was $12.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 22 times in the past 826 days.
• The current price of this book is $15.01 last checked one day ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $9.78.
• The lowest price to date was $9.78 last reached on December 1, 2025.
• This book has been $9.78 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $16.95 last reached on October 16, 2025.
• This book has been $16.95 4 times since we started tracking it.

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• Print Length: 149 Pages
• File Size: 56 KB