This virtually unknown, insightful account by a highly intelligent,
observant and forthright Frenchwoman of her decade-long stay in Brazil
during the 1850s provides a remarkable firsthand view of a slaveocrat
society.
In an effort to improve their family's fortune, enterprising and
highspirited young Parisian Ad_le Toussaint-Samson traveled with her
husband from France to Brazil in the mid 1800s. While there, she wrote
of her experiences, painting a vivid and detailed portrait of the
reality of slavery, gender relations. and daily life in mid-nineteenth
century Brazil.
Translated into English by her daughter Emma in 1891, Toussaint's book
is one of few first person accounts by a female sojourner in Latin
America during this period. This 124-page eminently readable primary
document provides a firsthand view of a slaveholding society, describing
both men and women, slave and free, rich and poor.
The introduction to a carefully annotated re-edition of this tale not
only puts the book into the context of Brazilian history, including
questions of gender relations and of slavery, but also confronts such
problems as who the author really was and precisely where and when many
events occurred, illuminating the nature of historical research.
Well written and lively, A Parisian in Brazil is an excellent resource
for courses on Latin America, women in Latin America, and Brazilian
history.