Tiodora's Letters: An Enslaved Woman's Fight for Family and Freedom

by Marcelo d'Salete, Andrea Rosenberg (Translator)

Inspired by the powerful true story of Tiodora da Cunha Dias, Eisner Award-winner D’Salete reconstructs a forgotten part of Brazil’s dark history of slavery.

A New York Public Library Best New Comic for Adults 2026

Harvey Award for Best International Book 2026 NOMINEE

In the mid-19th century, millions of Africans were enslaved and brought to Brazil. Among them was the real-life Teodora who, separated from her husband and her son, worked in the home of a priest in São Paulo. Wishing to reconstruct the family ties lost during the journey from Africa to Brazil and to achieve emancipation for herself and her family, she gave Claro, a Black man who could read and write, money to help her write some addressed to her husband and her son, whereabouts unknown, in the hopes that the letters would find them and that they could achieve this quest together; and some addressed to enslavers, intended to either help locate her family or to persuade them to let her buy her freedom.

Inspired by this correspondence, Tiodora’s Letters is a rigorously researched historical work, a compelling narrative based on her letters, and masterfully drawn by D’Salete, who graphically recreates her struggle. In the 1860s, Benê, a fictional Black young man who likes Tiodora because she was kind to him, takes it upon himself to seek Tiô’s family and deliver the letters. He embarks on a dangerous and world-building journey into the interior of Brazil and to the coffee plantations where they might be. There are many wordless passages of heartbreaking horror, character beats, breathtaking drawings of nature, and much more.

In Tiodora’s Letters, D’Salete reconstructs a forgotten part of Brazil's dark history of slavery and pays tribute to the strength of a woman who fought for her rights single-handedly. Includes educational and contextual material.

Black & white illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels

204 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Marcelo D’Salete (São Paulo, 1979) é autor de histórias em quadrinhos e professor de artes visuais na Escola de Aplicação, instituição pública de ensino fundamental e médio, do Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP. É autor ainda dos títulos Cumbe, que aborda a resistência negra contra a escravidão no Brasil colônia, Encruzilhadas, que retrata a juventude negra marginalizada das grandes cidades, e do épico Angola Janga - Uma história de Palmares, criado a partir da pesquisa de onze anos a respeito dos antigos mocambos da Serra da Barriga, o Quilombo dos Palmares.

Reviews

[Clint · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
The underlying slice of genuine history (an elderly enslaved woman in 1860s Brazil reaching out to find and reconnect with a husband and son she was separated from by slavers) is compelling and moving, but I really strongly disliked the rough charcoal scratching art style that conveys this story. It’s largely wordless too, which is an artful choice I tend to appreciate, but in this case it leaves little to connect with beyond the art I wasn’t enjoying.

[Andrew Dittmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiodora's Letters: An Enslaved Woman's Fight for Family and Freedom by Marcelo d'Salete & Andrea Rosenberg


This is a good example of a book that requires the historical notes to fully establish the book's meaning.

There is something utterly devastating about reading the desperate letters of an enslaved woman, desperately seeking her husband and her son to unite her family and seek her freedom... and then learn that these letters not only were unsuccessful but were never even delivered to their intended recipients.

The narrative of the book didn't fully work for me, but reading the historical note after the graphic portion re-contextualized the main text and really enhanced the overall meaning of the story.



Reading history:
Normally I keep this in my private notes section, but I'm moving it. Yay!

Reading history was not added on Goodreads, but was instead kept on a small piece of paper with the book.


Restarted June 15th, 2026.
Finished June 15th, 2026.


June 15th, 2026: read entire book in physical copy.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations are superb. I learned about slavery continuing in mid 1866 in Brazil. Slaves sold and bought in cattle yards. The focus was on letters written to family that never were delivered. The letters spoke to family and a return to Africa.

[E. G. Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to have early access to this book; it is incredibly written and the graphics are meaningful and full of emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.