Springtime in the Bones

A BOLD FEMINIST TALE OF SURVIVAL, VENGEANCE, AND REBIRTH -- NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Springtime in the Bones introduces English readers to Állex Leilla, a major contemporary Brazilian voice whose work blends lyrical intensity with the sharp edges of noir. Set in Salvador, Bahia, the novel follows Luísa, a rising star in the advertising world—clever, stylish, admired. But beneath her polished exterior lies a woman piecing herself back together from two shattering blows: a violent rape and the collapse of a marriage she fought desperately to save.

Her ex-husband Michel has embraced his attraction to men, leaving Luísa suspended between love, longing, and abandonment. Yet the deeper fracture lies in the harm she has never fully voiced—and in the rage that now refuses to stay quiet.

Haunted by memories of her life with Michel and searching for a future she can bear to inhabit, Luísa arrives at a stark, consuming clarity: she must kill her rapists. What begins as a whispered thought becomes a mission sharpened by pain, tempered by dark humour, and sustained by her fierce desire to reclaim power over her own story. As she confronts the men who stole her sense of safety, she also confronts herself—her contradictions, her desires, and the fragile promise of renewal.

Bold, darkly lyrical, and unflinchingly intimate, Springtime in the Bones is a modern classic of Brazilian feminist literature—an exploration of seasons, survival, the foreignness of the body, and the persistence of love.

Translated into English by Amanda Sarasien.

Title: Springtime in the Bones

Original Title: Primavera nos ossos

Author: Állex Leilla

Translator: Amanda Sarasien

Publisher: Foreshore Books (Foreshore Publishing)

Publication Date: March 2026

Format: Paperback

Price: £9.50

Page Count: approx. 240

ISBN: 978-1-9192526-8-1

Genres: Literary Fiction / Feminist Noir / Translated Brazilian Literature