"In a language close to the Brazilian northern oral tradition, narrative conveys life in the backlands for landlords, politicians, and cowboys. The periods immediately preceding and following the 1938 death of Lampião, the notorious cangaceiro (the outlaw of the fields), constitute the time frame for this epic, which describes raids on farms and the love between Maria Bonita and her husband Felipe, a relationship torn apart by Lampião"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.