Spanning 500 years of Brazilian history, Her Mother’s Mother’s Mother and Her Daughters chronicles a family of women, beginning in 1500 and ending in 2001. As each new daughter takes the place of her mother, Maria José Silveira’s captivating, cinematic prose takes us through the formation of the country itself, as well as through the roles, customs, challenges, and intrigues of the women within it. Subversive and refreshing, Silveira blends great storytelling with personal politics to critique the machismo, authoritarianism, and abuses of power prevalent in Brazilian culture.