Chapter 9: The Face of Law In Everyday Life: A Case Study in Novos Alagados, Salvador, Bahia¹

Macabéa has not met Demeter, the Greek goddess of earth and fertility. If she had met this goddess, she would not have faced a scarce life. This chapter tells the story of a woman who had a dream: she wanted to be loved, to be a mother, and to have a home. It was a daring dream for a poor, country, and nearly illiterate woman. She left the interior and moved to the capital when she was eighteen. It was the first day of 1975. Many women had already crossed this path in the northeast of Brazil. Macabéa’s story, however, is a map drawn in poverty and in the struggle for survival.