Nothing Can Hurt You – Sao Paulo – Simone Campos

Submitted: 16th February 2023

Lucinda has lived her whole life in the shadow of her glamorous and outgoing high-end model sister Viviana. But when Viviana suddenly disappears on a trip to São Paulo, Lucinda drops everything to track her down.

BookTrail Travel to Nothing Can Hurt You Now

Boarding Pass Information: Sao Paulo

Author guide: Simone Campos

Genre: literary fiction/crime

Food and drink to accompany: oh just imagine!

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BookTrail Travel to Nothing Can Hurt You Now

So this isn’t the prettiest book I have ever read but I like to push my reading boundaries. A book set in the world of prostitution, in Sao Paulo was always going to test me. What a book though. What a story. Sad to think that this could be true.

A girl heads out to Sao Paulo as her sister is missing. Now, imagine that. Missing in a strange city. The girl joins forces with Vivianna’s girlfriend and they try to find out what on earth happened to her and how she could just go missing like that.

That’s when the setting of the novel really shines. Well, through the grime. Sao Paulo, the city we see here at least, is dark and dank. The reality of life here is grim and dangerous. From the favelas, shanty towns and dark corners, we head past the posh houses to where the street walkers tout for business. It’s awful to realise this exists and that girls are trapped into this life through no fault of their own. It’s big money and big crime although they don’t get much cash and the crimes are always against them.

What this book does is look at women in this part of the world as they fight to survive. When one is the victim of a crime, she is treated like a criminal herself. Add a woman who is poor and non-white then you have trouble. If you add prostitution on top of that – well , she ‘s got no chance.

There’s a lot of detail early on that I think the book could have done without but when you finish it and sit back, I really did appreciate the threads that had been woven together.

Hard hitting and raw.