A miraculous fish appears to an old woman in a small town in Northeast Brazil -- and so begins a series of comical, poignant, beautiful, and bizarre tales imagined by a remarkable storyteller whose singular voice resonates with lyrical grace.

Featuring an unforgettable cast of players such as a penitent priest who falls in love with a river spirit, an alcoholic alchemist plumbing the depths of his arcane knowledge for the mysteries of death and immortality, and a young beauty torn between Jesus and the lustful earth goddess who has possessed her since childhood, Little Star of Bela Lua is a rich and luminous collection of wonders that marks the arrival of a talented new voice in American fiction.