"Historical novel set in the period of the 17th-century Dutch attack on Bahia. In the midst of naval battles and land clashes, a young Brazilian woman, Ana Pais, astounds her contemporaries by marrying a man who is 40 years her senior. Moreover, becoming a rich widow shortly after the nuptials, she further shocks the local society by audaciously taking control of her deceased husband's business. Novel conveys the sense of mystery and sensuality enveloping the atmosphere of war, ambition, and greed during the time that Nassau ruled the Brazilian Northeast"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.