Book Summary and Reviews of It's All River by Carla Madeira

It's All River by Carla Madeira

It's All River

A Novel

by Carla Madeira

  • Publishes:
  • Jun 23, 2026, 176 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The seductive and shocking story of a twisted love triangle, It's All River flows through the rapids of humanity.

"Lucy was a virgin-whore. A dreamer. She wanted to test her power. She wanted men to fast for her, to grovel, to pay tithes."

Lusted after by everyone she meets, Lucy is the town's most deviant and desired whore―and proud of it. But there is only one man who has captured her attention: the somber, ever-suffering Venâncio, a carpenter with a dark secret―and a wife. Once upon a time, Venâncio and Dalva, his angelic teenage sweetheart, were a shining example of marital bliss and the envy of all their neighbors―until tragedy left them estranged in their own home.

But Venâncio doesn't desire Lucy the way other men in town do. In fact, he wants nothing to do with her. And if Lucy fails in seducing Venâncio, what becomes of her? Consumed by an insatiable need for Venâncio and driven mad by a growing obsession with Dalva, Lucy makes a decision that forever changes their three lives.

Introducing one of Brazil's most daring and best-selling authors to English-language readers, and masterfully translated by Alison Entrekin, It's All River is a taut, provocative allegory of violence and forgiveness that grips and stuns the whole way through.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Madeira, translated into English by Entrekin, is at her best...A feverish, obsessive, filthy book—and a terribly fun one." —Kirkus Reviews

"Horrifying yet tender, hypnotic and bursting with life, It's All River has all the makings of a modern classic." ―Virginia Feito, author of Victorian Psycho and Mrs. March

This information about It's All River was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Carla Madeira

Carla Madeira is one of Brazil's best-selling authors, her novels having sold a combined one million copies. Her debut, Tudo é rio (It's All River), topped the bestseller charts for two years and has been published or is forthcoming in seven countries.

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