A Literary Tour of Állex Leilla's Salvador

1. Porto da Barra Beach

2. Caramuru Monument

3. Mouraria, the neighborhood Luísa grew up in

4. Entrance to Elevador Lacerda

5. Side view of Elevador Lacerda

6. Rua Chile

7. Rua Chile slope

8. The street in Nazaré where Michel lives

9. Closeup of a house in Nazaré, on Michel's street

10. Convento do Desterro (Convent of Our Lady of Exile) - Nazaré (neighborhood where Michel lives)

11. Largo de Campo Grande, a public square in the heart of downtown Salvador.

12. Avenida Sete de Setembro, referred to as "Avenida Sete" by locals

13. Largo Dois de Julho

14. Avenida Carlos Gomes, downtown

15. Rio Vermelho waterfront

16. Todos os Santos Bay with the São Marcelo Fort photographed by Michel

17. Mercado Modelo with the São Marcelo Fort in the background

18. Cidade Baixa with Todos os Santos Bay in the background

19. Another view of Todos os Santos Bay

20. Entrance to Pelourinho neighborhood

21. Main square in Pelourinho

22. Streets of Pelourinho

23. View of the Church of Santo Antônio as seen from the restaurant where Michel waits for Luísa

View of Porto da Barra Beach from Luísa's window

Sunset View from Luísa's Apartment window

In Állex Leilla's Springtime in the Bones, the city of Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, is as much a character as the novel's two protagonists, Luísa and Michel. Storied. Reticent. Presiding. So timeworn that it is described as only a local would know it, with equal parts awe, scorn, comfort, and annoyance. Luísa, who muses about the rusting, "worm-eaten" sights and the challenges of living in "such an old place", at one point suggests fleeing the city for Buenos Aires, until Michel reminds her Buenos Aires is just as old as Salvador. But she also acknowledges the complicity of this "obedient Bahian capital", taking solace in the fact that her personified hometown will not breathe a word of the crimes it has witnessed her commit. Leilla heightens the noirish atmosphere of her novel by invoking all five senses. Scenes from Carnaval contrast with unsettling images of poverty and suffering: kids digging through the trash for food scraps, an unnamed boy fighting to be treated at an overcrowded hospital. Michel's leisurely stroll through the streets of Salvador, taking photos and narrating a tour guide's facts about its history, quickly transforms, through breathlessly accelerating prose, into an ode to the city's stench, juxtaposing the two sides of Salvador: the sunny face it shows to tourists and the gritty underbelly seen only by those who live in and move through that place daily.

As translator, my challenge was to transport the reader, knowing that neither I nor they will ever have the same intimacy with Salvador as its author and protagonists. This involved considerable research and communication with the author, a native soteripolitana. Here my outsider's perspective allowed me to bridge the distance, bringing Salvador closer to the English-language horizon.

Tour key locations in the novel by clicking through the slideshow above, as if viewing the city through Michel's camera lens. Ready to travel deeper, into the pages of Leilla's visceral novel? Purchase your copy here, and keep an eye out for each of the following landmarks to help guide your reading.

1. Porto da Barra Beach: A beach mentioned numerous times throughout the book, most notably as the area where Luísa and Michel lived while married, and where Luísa still lives. It is located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay and is the site of Salvador's founding.

2. "Caramuru" monument: Officially called the "Monumento ao Dois de Julho", this sculpture is located in the square of Largo do Campo Grande and honors Bahian Independence on July 2, 1823. Locals call it "The Caramuru".

3. Mouraria: a street in the Nazaré neighborhood on which Luísa grew up, near where Michel still lives.

"When she met him, it was miserably sunny [...] she was only eleven years old, she was in Nazaré, playing some game, tag or dodgeball. He was a classmate of Luís Carlos', he'd watched her playing with other kids in the street." (141)

4. Entrance to Elevador Lacerda: one of Salvador's most famous landmarks, a public elevator transporting citizens back and forth between the upper and lower cities (Cidade Alta and Cidade Baixa), so called because Salvador is a steeply sloped town. Such elevators are also employed to help residents navigate Lisbon's hills. The building, renovated in 1930, has a distinctive art deco style.

5. Side view of Elevador Lacerda

6. Rua Chile

7. Rua Chile slope

8. The street in Nazaré where Michel lives: This historic neighborhood still has cobbled roads and character-filled houses. On the left side of the photo, the army barracks are just visible, surrounded by a barbed-wire wall.

9. Closeup of a house in Nazaré

"Because he'd gotten it into his head that he should sell the house in Nazaré and live in a completely new neighborhood, with no possibility of a past, of remembering." (171)

10. Convento do Desterro (Convent of Our Lady of Exile): an historic landmark in Nazaré

11. Largo do Campo Grande: a public square and site of the Caramuru monument. Site of protests, strikes, samba performances, pride parades, religious processions, the official opening of the city's Carnaval celebrations, and the historic Teatro Castro Alves (also mentioned in the novel), it is a general point of reference for all of Salvador's daily life.

12. Avenida Sete de Setembro: known as "Avenida Sete" by locals

13. Largo Dois de Julho: street that runs parallel and eventually intersects with Rua Carlos Gomes, located in a bohemian neighborhood of artists, writers, translators, and musicians. Not to be confused with Largo do Campo Grande, which is also known as Largo Dois de Julho; visitors to Salvador will find the name Dois de Julho everywhere, including the city's airport. It is a reference to the date of Bahian independence, July 2, 1823.

14. Rua Carlos Gomes: Michel views an apartment on this road and decides, despite the great views of the sea, that the street is too noisy.

15. Rio Vermelho waterfront: Rio Vermelho is a neighborhood known for its beaches and nightlife.

"He stopped at the busiest part of Rio Vermelho, in front of Salvador's first church, to look at that body, and he didn't hold his nose or curse. He took countless photos. Of the man's corpse: all shriveled up." (168)

16. Todos os Santos Bay with the São Marcelo Fort photographed by Michel in his wanderings through the city; the São Marcelo Fort is Brazil's only round fort and dates from 1608. It saw battle in 1624 when the Dutch invaded and captured Bahia.

17. Mercado Modelo with the São Marcelo Fort in the background: an artisan market frequented by tourists overlooking the city's historic harbor. The structure was originally a 19th-century customs house and now sits opposite the Elevador Lacerda, just west of Pelourinho.

18. Cidade Baixa with Todos os Santos Bay in the background

19. Another view of Todos os Santos Bay

20. Entrance to the Pelourinho neighborhood: an historic neighborhood and UNESCO World Heritage site, known by locals as "Pelô" The area is known for its cobblestone streets and brightly-colored Portuguese architecture. The word Pelourinho comes from "pillory", the site where enslaved men and women were publicly beaten during the colonial period.

"I'm a model Brazilian citizen, who pays her taxes, separates the recyclables from the perishables, makes monthly contributions to an NGO that takes little children off the streets and teaches them to drum in the Pelô samba school, who never takes the handicapped parking spots..." (14-5)

21. Main square in Pelourinho: Here, one can best appreciate the black and white wave patterns of Portuguese cobblestones, also seen in Lisbon and Copacabana.

22. Street in Pelourinho

23. View of the Church of Santo Antônio as seen from the restaurant where Michel waits for Luísa after the two reconnect

24. View of Porto da Barra Beach: This would be more or less the view Luísa sees out her apartment window

25. Sunset over Porto da Barra Beach as seen out Luísa's window

26. View of the church interior of the Misericórdia Museum: a former chapel and hospital dating from 1549, the year of Salvador's founding

All photos © and courtesy of Állex Leilla and João Filho, 2026.

Text and excerpts © Amanda Sarasien, 2026