The Diary of "Helena Morley"

Beginning in 1893, the exuberant twelve year old Alice Dayrell started a diary. English on her father's side, but Brazilian through her mother's, she writes of the everyday occurrences that made up her life in Diamantina, Brazil: the squabbling and eccentric relatives and neighbours; her beloved grandmother; helping with the household chores; attending church; school with its pressures (she hopes to become a teacher); fits of giggles at the most inopportune times.
I loved the account of dinner at Dona Elvira's:
'Lunchtime came, she opened the cupboard and took out a deep crockery dish with only one handle that I found very strange. But as it happened quickly, no one noticed. When she brought the canjica from the kitchen and put it on the table, we looked at one another in bewilderment. Never in my life have I seen a dish of THAT sort in the dining room. Everybody ate the canjica except me. I excused myself by saying I didn't like it. When we left, Naninha said to me, "Silly, it was your loss. Didn't you see that she thinks that's a dish for food?" '
We are immersed in a very alien world. Father is away working at the diamond mines; money is short; slavery has just been stopped but there is an ambiguous relationship between blacks and whites -Alice queries why she should be disapproved of for playing with her black schoolmates. Although she attends church, she mentions her own doubts. Sickness and death and possible incidences of witchcraft interrupt her life.
Even such everyday items as clocks are a rarity. Living by the sun and the roosters, mistakes occur, such as the time Mama wakes her up for early Mass and is stopped by a soldier querying where they're going:
'Mama said "Midnight? I thought it was four o'clock. Thankyou very much for the information." '
A lovely entertaining glimpse into a foreign world through the eyes of an endearing young girl. ( )