English translation from the Portuguese. The premise was interesting—lacemakers in Brazil using their designs as code. I didn’t like the characters at all—felt they were shallow and Alice’s tie in was tenuous.

Beautifully written. I was invested after the first few pages. Lopes crafted great characters, and I found the story very entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book and the varying timelines; although I would have preferred to have more focus on the curse itself. I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends

The Curse of the Flores Women is a stunning and tragic story as told through two narratives separated by nearly 100 years, though intrinsically connected.
The story touches on the challenges that women face, both historically and in the modern era; as well as the strength that is found by witnessing the struggle against oppression.
The characters of the teenage girls and young women in the fictional small town of Bom Retiro in 1918 are as lively and relatable as Alice in 2010.
I particularly enjoyed the use of lace coding and the concept of an unfinished history being revisited and adapted by the retrospect only time can provide.
I am very grateful to have been given access to this translated ARC by Amazon Crossing.

I’m a sucker for cultural novels so this was right up my alley. The book brings to light topics such as female oppression, feminism and the long lasting bond of friendship.

It goes back in forth in time. The year is 1918 and the Flores women have been cursed for seven generations. They are not lucky in love and any man that comes into their lives, dies. In order to survive and fend for themselves, they learn the art of lacemaking and become the most popular lace makers in Brazil.

Eugenia is one of the lacemakers who is in an arranged marriage and hates it. Soon after the wedding, she starts planning her escape. She starts a new tradition where she writes messages on the lace she stitches by using a code. This will ensure safe communicating between her and her friends without getting caught by her husband.

The year is 2010. Alice is an 18 years old feminist that inherits a family heirloom – a veil which contains a story stitched in code. She cracks the code and is immediately drawn to her family’s history. She begins to ask questions about her roots. She visits the town where her great great grandmother lived and meets one of the original lacemakers who reveals how her ancestors made their voices heard through their lacemaking.

I give the book 5 stars because it was beautifully written and I loved the story line. The title, however, is a little misleading. I was expecting to learn more about the curse and the Flores women but the bulk of the book was Eugenia’s story. Regardless of that, I enjoyed it very much.

This novel is split between modern day and historic Brazil weaves together a story of family whose history of lacemaking is lost overtime. Alice, the modern representative of the Flores family, is given an heirloom from a long lost relative that calls her to dig into the history of her family. Intermixed with Alice’s story is that of her ancestors who used lacemaking in pursuit of financial independence. A curse on the family looms over their lives and they seek happiness amidst tragedy.

It’s a tragic, but beautiful story of enduring bonds of women and family. The Curse of the Flores Women was hard to put down! As a birder, I appreciated the callbacks and accuracy of birds in Brazil as they used birds to explain colors to a blind character. Lopes weaves together a variety of themes of crafts, family, domestic violence, mythology, and code creation for this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for providing this ARC for my unbiased and fair review.