Writer and professor Jeanine Geraldo presents her fourth book, ‘Portraits of a Woman’, a collection of 19 unpublished short stories that delve into the complex female experience. Published by Urutau publishing house, the volume gathers narratives that reveal the everyday horror lived by women, where violence, abuse, and silencing become invisible protagonists.
The opening story, “The Hanged Woman”, recounts a girl’s visit to her father’s workplace, a night guard at a factory, where she hears horror tales about a woman who is said to have committed suicide in one of the warehouses. The author explains that her stories arise from personal experiences and social observations, even though they are not autobiographical.
In “Wine‑Stained Sheets”, the theme of post‑maternal sexuality finds a voice, showing the loss of identity the narrator feels upon becoming a mother. Other texts intersect issues of life and death, fear and the sea, and include metalinguistic tales such as “Who Is Afraid of the Dark?”, where the protagonist tries to recall an old story about a being pursued by darkness.
Jeanine emphasizes that art should evoke deep emotions in the reader, turning each story into an inner mirror. The eponymous title closes the collection with a role reversal: the woman, simultaneously victim and aggressor, uses legal protection mechanisms as a form of revenge against a society that oppresses her.
With a sharp yet playful prose, “Portraits of a Woman” reveals childhood ghosts, unnamed violences, and denied dreams that mark the female everyday life. The author, a Ph.D. in Literature, post‑doctoral researcher in Letters at UFPR and literary‑criticism scholar, balances academic life, jiu‑jitsu training, and the urgency to write.
For those who wish to deepen the discussion on literature and gender, the book emerges as an invitation to reflection and feeling.
