Exemplary Humans
$20.00
Additional Info
- ISBN: 978-1-949641-96-7
- Size: 5" x 8"
- Pages: 315
- Publication Date: April 21, 2026
- Distributed By: Publishers Group West
Juliana Leite makes her English-language debut with a novel about one woman’s past and all of our futures
Ever since the unnamed threat took over, 100-year-old Natalia has been stuck inside her Rio de Janeiro apartment, alone. Well, not entirely alone—her loved ones may be gone but they never really left her, plus she’s pretty sure there’s a spy watching her every move through the window.
As she waits for the daily call from her daughter who lives halfway across the world, the old woman revisits scenes from her life. There’s her husband Vicente, who obsessively erased maps of Brazil; her best friend Sarah, the cookie seller; Jorge, who gave tarot readings for both humans and birds; and the comrades who joined her in resisting Brazil’s dictatorship, at least until they were forced into hiding. Exemplary Humans is an ambitious novel about the quirks of memory and the delights and horror of aging.
Praise
“Masterful, crystalline prose… Leite’s novel is one to read and reread and grow old with.” —Bruna Dantas Lobato, author of Blue Light Hours
“Juliana Leite writes about death and old age with the exuberance of a child who’s new to life.”—José Eduardo Agualusa, author of The Living and the Rest
“Between the intimate and the social, full of the vastness of everyday life. As delicate as it is poignant, as poetic as it’s concrete, Exemplary Humans is a rare literary feat.”—Stênio Gardel, author of The Words That Remain
Juliana Leite is a Brazilian writer based in São Paulo. Her work has been published in Italy, France, Portugal, in the UK and US, appearing in The Paris Review, the French newspaper Libération and many Brazilian magazines. She’s been awarded the O. Henry Prize for the story “My good friend”, the first Brazilian writer to ever achieve the distinction; the story was optioned for film. Her previous works have been shortlisted for and awarded many prizes in Brazil including the Critics’ Choice for best novel with her debut book, also optioned for film. Juliana has been a fellow writer at Art Omi, Ucross Foundation, and Hawthornden Foundation.
Zoë Perry
Zoë Perry has translated the work of several contemporary Brazilian authors, including Juliana Leite, Veronica Stigger, Clara Drummond, Carol Bensimon and Ana Paula Maia. Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, The New York Times, and The Paris Review. Born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, she is currently based in Miami.
Books
Zoë Perry has translated the work of several contemporary Brazilian authors, including Juliana Leite, Veronica Stigger, Clara Drummond, Carol Bensimon and Ana Paula Maia. Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, The New York Times, and The Paris Review. Born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, she is currently based in Miami.