Last night I had the pleasure of being at the Portuguese Ambassador’s Residence in London for the launch of Clara Macedo Cabral’s novel A Inglesa e o Marialva, published by Casa das Letras, an imprint of LeYa.
The Ambassador’s Residence exudes exactly the sort of grandeur you would expect and makes a fitting setting for a literary event. The lounge was packed and I did well to get in early to be sure of getting a seat. After being introduced by the Ambassador, Manuel Lobo Antunes, the author spoke about her work and process, before Francisco Mendes da Silva offered his thoughts on the novel, its historical context and themes. Afterwards there was time for audience questions before we repaired to the dining room for drinks and canapés.
The novel is based on a true and quite remarkable story, one that arrived into Cabral’s hands thanks to a chance encounter with a certain Chris Dennistoun. Upon hearing her name, he asked if she was Portuguese, as his sister had lived in Portugal. This sister, Virginia “Ginnie” Dennistoun, had in the 1960s left England to pursue her dream of becoming a horse-mounted bullfighter in Portugal, where she went on to have a secret romance with her instructor.
Cabral spoke of how she researched Ginnie’s story, how she formed close bonds with her surviving family and friends – a number of whom were present last night – and it was clear that this story had become something deeply personal to her too. Although the work is fictionalised and much of it is imagined or invented, Cabral was able to build up her image of the character thanks to interviews with those that knew her and diary extracts written upon Ginnie’s return to England. Cabral mentioned that she is not herself a fan of bullfighting and these events did not take place in her part of Portugal, so there was much to learn, but some stories are too good to remain untold.
Both Cabral and Francisco Mendes da Silva talked about the historical and cultural setting of the novel, which is one of the aspects that makes it particularly interesting. Ginnie left an England amid a cultural revolution, the swinging 60s of The Beatles and social liberation, and arrived in rural Portugal under the dictatorship of Salazar: conservative, elitist and ignorant of The Beatles. Any move to another country will produce a culture shock and require some adaptation, but in this case perhaps it was even more pronounced, especially as in the 60s it was less usual for a young woman to move abroad alone and quite uncommon for one to become a bullfighter – indeed, Ginnie initially struggled to find a master willing to train her.
Bullfighting was a huge part of village life in Chamusca do Ribatejo, where Ginnie ended up, and its calendar often tied in with that of the Catholic festivities. Here, in an environment vastly different from the one she had left behind, she became a new person, or perhaps it was that she found herself; she grew, became braver and more self-confident. She also saw herself become the subject of gossip and scandal, her relationship with an older man not viewed kindly by many in what was a very conservative society with little scope for social mobility.
Those of us who have spent time living outside of our own country will be able to relate to Ginnie’s experience on some level, the way it can be formative, change you, make you who you are. Clara Macedo Cabral herself is no stranger to this, having lived in London for over a decade now. The book is in fact dedicated to those who embrace the foreign, the different. Just below that dedication, in the book’s opening pages, is a quote from Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls: ‘I suppose if a man has something once, always something of it remains’.
A story was told from Ginnie's early days in Portugal that will be especially relatable for language learners or those who have lived amongst other languages. Ginnie was advised by an acquaintance that the correct response to an invitation to dance was sim, com certeza, és um gajo porreiro, which means ‘yes, of course, you’re a cool guy’. You can imagine how that went down.
Understandably in an audience that was a mix of Anglophone and Lusophone, and in many cases both, some questions about translation arose. The novel’s title contains a word that it is extremely difficult to find a one-word solution for in English: marialva. When clarification was asked for this word, a quiet but knowing chuckle went around the room. I smiled to myself too as I had been giving some thought to it on the train earlier. The inquiry prompted an interesting discussion about the historical roots and contemporary usage of marialva. Originally heavily associated with bullfighting in that particular part of Portugal and signifying a strong, brave, masculine man who had a way with women, it has now become a more general and pejorative term for a macho womaniser. I suspect that in an English translation the title may need modified, as finding an elegant way of representing this without losing the cultural weight behind the word marialva may be too much to fit on the front cover. There is also the complication that a inglesa means ‘the English woman’, which also immediately adds another word to the potential title.
Another of the final comments of the first part of the evening was from a reader who opined that the book would do very well in English, and it is easy to see why. The book’s protagonist is, of course, an English woman and part of the novel is set in England. The cultural comparisons between England and Portugal in the 1960s sound fascinating and Ginnie’s sister back home acts as a point of reference for her, an indicator of what she may be missing or what perhaps she is not missing at all. Add in the fact that this is based on a true story and that Ginnie not only has to contend with a new culture and language but also has to fight to prove herself in the macho world of bullfighting and you have the recipe for an intriguing tale – the Ambassador even joked that it would be perfect for the big screen.
A novel about adventures abroad, crossing cultures and subverting stereotypes, this could indeed be an ideal candidate for translation, so don't be surprised if you see it on English-language shelves in the future, or even in the cinema.
With thanks to Ambassador Manuel Lobo Antunes, Adriana Neiva Faria, Oleksandra Balytska and all the embassy staff for an enjoyable evening.