FINAL SALE, NO EXCHANGE, NO RETURNS
The unpublished Posso Perguntar Perdição, Só Não Posso Deixar de Pecar was the first book written by Fernanda Young (1970-2019), at the age of 17, and also the last one she would dedicate herself to, revising the originals for publication more than three decades later. Written at the height of the author's creative awakening in adolescence, the novel displays all the signs of the great artist who was to come – a unique, absolutely original, libertarian, creative and disconcerting voice in Brazilian literature.
In the preface, Cecília Young, the author's daughter, presents the narrative as the story of "a young woman who, upon having her first period, begins to see the world in a different way - one that does not correspond to her family's religious outlook, but rather to the freedom of being a woman." The book, therefore, reflects the many facets of Fernanda Young: the "crazy" writer, the "cursed" poet, the mother of many children and the woman who has always sought different forms of spirituality and of relating to the world.
This duality is represented on the cover, which was illustrated by another of her daughters, Estela May Young. The drawing depicts a bull, Fernanda's astrological sign, being tamed by Jéssica – a character that, in a humorous way, the writer assumed in her daily family life to represent her inner child.
When she retrieved the originals of Posso Perguntar Perdição, Só Não Posso Deixar de Pecar, Fernanda had doubts about publishing it. However, as a response to the current situation in Brazil – which she used to call “retrograde” and “tacky” – she finally decided to release it. She even selected narrative moments that deserved to be expanded and conflicts that could be deepened, plans interrupted by her sudden death in August 2019.
In this way, the work that now reaches the reader faithfully preserves the text written between 1987 and 1988 by a dreamy teenager who was preparing to enter college in Literature. As Eugênia Ribas Vieira, who wrote the introductory note, says, “this novel was published to keep Fernanda Young’s work alive. It is the affirmation of her active and provocative voice, which will resonate for many, many years. May she never stop taking us from a place of comfort in exchange for freedom and dreams.”
The publisher LeYa Brasil launches Posso Perguntar Perdição, Só Não Posso Deixa de Penha in a unique and limited first edition, exquisite in every detail of the graphic design studied and signed by Victor Burton, dedicated to the readers and admirers of Fernanda – and in fair homage to all her great work that here, at the age of 17, was announced.
