Tiodora’s Letters: An Enslaved Woman’s Fight for Family and Freedom
The introduction to this graphic novel sets the stage for a tale about an enslaved woman in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1866, who is trying to obtain her freedom. Tiodora enlists a fellow slave who is literate to write a letter for her to her husband, urging him to help save money to buy their freedoms. Benê, a young acquaintance, decides to try to help Tio by delivering the letter himself instead of entrusting it to a drover. Besides the dangers of trekking through the Brazilian forests, and not knowing exactly where Tio’s husband is, he faces danger from white men and overseers.
The story is based on real letters written by Teodora Dias de Cunha, which were entered as evidence in a court case involving her owner and thus preserved for posterity, giving rare insight into the thoughts of an enslaved person of the period. I liked the aesthetics of D’Salete’s black-and-white panels, sometimes minimalist and dramatic at the same time. A large number of them are dialogue-free, which led me to be grateful for the copious supplemental materials, because I got confused about plot points in one or two sections. The addenda include historical background, texts of the original letters, period photos of São Paulo, and extensive references. This graphic novel would be an excellent way to provide readers a perspective on Afro-Brazilian enslaved people’s experiences, in the approximate time frame when the United States ended slavery. Strongly recommended for both the artwork and the historical material.
