‘Neither to the walls I confess’ book with soundtrack by Pedro Abrunhosa

Based on real events and with multimedia resources, ‘Nem às Paredes Confeso’, by Sheila Aragão, will be released on the 23rd, at the Martins bookstore.

A true story with a flavour of fiction. Or would it be fiction based on a true novel? Not even to the walls I confess brings this doubt to its final page, although the author Sheila Aragão does not deny that it is a real work of love between a Brazilian journalist and actress from Rio de Janeiro and a Portuguese politician, who has an ocean separating them. . After great success in Brazil, the book arrives in Portugal, the land of the author’s grandparents. The launch will be on the 23rd, at 3 pm, at the Martins bookstore, in Alameda.

“Several characters in the book are inspired by real people, such as the main character: journalist, actress and producer whom I named Sheila Aragão and who, in many moments, is really confused with me. Some names have been changed or are fictitious. Antônio Francisco Pessoa is one of them. Precisely because it is the mixture of several charming men who have been in my life and in that of some friends. Other characters are not only real, but also sign their real names: relatives, friends and artists, with whom I worked during my professional career, such as actress and singer Bibi Ferreira, comedian Agildo Ribeiro, Augusto César Vannucci, director Nelson Hoineff, pianist Nelson Melim and actress Vanda Lacerda, whom I decided to pay homage to, as they are of fundamental importance in my life. Mainly to contextualize the scenes of this novel”, says Sheila Aragão.

Neither to the walls I confess is a multimedia work with a musical part, which features a soundtrack in each of its 39 chapters. Award-winning singer-songwriter Pedro Abrunhosa is responsible for this and, through QR Code, it is possible to listen to the songs that define each moment lived by the characters, while the reader follows the story.

“I am a journalist and playwright. I can’t think of life without a soundtrack. Since I was a child, I believe that at all important moments someone releases the exact sound to pack the scene. Without it, there would not be so many nuances in our existence. And today, with technology at my disposal, I managed to make my debut novel with a beautiful soundtrack. Thanks to Pedro, the songs that were happening in my head, punctuating unforgettable moments of the main character, can be heard at that moment here. Official links by the artist refer the reader exactly to the song that plays in the scene they are reading”, says Sheila, who was praised by Abrunhosa:

“Neither to the walls I confess are peopled by that spiral universe that is simultaneously the history of MPB. From the dreamlike and physical of what remains in the middle of the show, and the deep affective relationship that the author developed throughout her life with music. Sheila follows her own daily life with a mental soundtrack that she shares here, surprisingly, with the reader, referring him to links where, throughout the book, he can hear the song that drives the main character at that moment”, said the award-winning singer-songwriter.

ABOUT HISTORY

Rio de Janeiro, early 90’s. A successful independent professional woman finds the love of her life: a powerful and influential man. She is from Rio, an actress, journalist. He, a Portuguese, businessman and politician. A date that seemed to be just an adventure suddenly becomes serious. A marriage proposal changes everything. All the same, when there is an ocean between them. In 20 years this story seems to have no end. Until, finally, fate brings them face to face for a definitive conversation.

PEDRO ABRUNHOSA

When I received the first manuscript of Neither to the walls I confess, I realized in the first pages that I was looking at a work that is read with the greatest fluidity and immense pleasure, even though the concept of the book is apparently complex.

Sheila Aragão proposed to make the book complete. Whole and the truth is that she managed to do so: the narrative leads us to live with her moments of intense emotional and human sharing taken from her very rich experience. Thus, travelling from hall to hall, from concert halls to backstage shows, from Brazil to Portugal, Sheila Aragão exposes more than her own intimacy. She makes us go through the labyrinths of memory and affection, placing us side by side with characters that only inhabit our imagination, but with whom she deprives or is deprived. The point is that the ambience of Neither to the walls I confess is populated by that spiral universe that is simultaneously the history of MPB, of the dreamlike and physical that subsists in the middle of the show, and the deep affective relationship that the author developed throughout her life with the music. Thus, confessing to be a “multimedia”, insofar as she has the ability to do so much in such a short space of time, Sheila follows her own day-to-day with a mental soundtrack that she shares here, surprisingly, with with the reader, referring him to links where, throughout the book, he can hear the song, the melody, the musical or visual reference that drives the main character at that moment. We are inside the author’s head, the book’s inhabitants, without ever failing to add our own life to each scene, since the songs that emerge also represent, for us, readers, an imagination of our own.

That’s why we are anything but passive towards the book and its characters.

Almost like in a movie, we project images in our heads and hear the sounds the author wants us to hear. Perfect integration between different forms of art, without removing the polymorphic and abstract capacity of each one, makes us actors, partners and accomplices in this enchanted journey.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sheila Aragão was born in Rio de Janeiro on September 17, 1958. Daughter of a military man and, by virtue of her profession, she got to know the interior of Brazil and the stories told by the people. She has a degree in Journalism and was a reporter and editor in vehicles such as Correio Braziliense, Jornal de Brasília, O Globo and TV Manchete. She is an actress, director and cultural producer. She acted in film, theatre and TV. She witnessed several changes in the historical and cultural life of Brazil. She studied postgraduate studies in Cultural Management. She is a consultant for cultural projects, a specialist in the Federal Fiscal Incentive Law for Culture, and head counsellor for Performing Arts, from 2013 to 2016, at the National Commission for Incentive to Culture (CNIC), the highest consultative body of the Ministry of Culture. She has written adult and children’s plays, and chronicles in newspapers, magazines and blogs. But she considers herself a storyteller, passionate about the Portuguese language and its differences. She loves to play with the language. Granddaughter of Portuguese, when writing Nem à Paredes Confeso she had a very loving encounter with her roots.

LAUNCH

• October 23 at 3pm
  Martins Bookshop
  Rua Guerra Junqueira, 18 – Alameda – Lisbon

Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the conditions of access, confirmation of the date or time, tickets place of sale, price, and availability.

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