Binka Le Breton

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Where the Road Ends

Binka's latest book, Where the Road Ends - a Home in the Brazilian Rainforest, is the story of Binka's journey to Iracambi, where she now lives, and recalls the ups and (a few) downs of building a new life and a new home in the rainforest. It is published by Thomas Dunne Books and you can order it now on Amazon.com and read this review of the book in the New York Times. The starred review in the Publisher's Weekly said:

* Where The Road Ends: A Home in the Brazilian Rainforest
Binka Le Breton. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (304p) ISBN 9780312574055
This book reveals all the enchantment of the rainforest, as well as its mysteries and dangers. The author and her agricultural economist husband moved to Brazil twenty years ago to take over an abandoned farm in a beautiful but remote locale. Le Breton's story the challenges and joys they faced adapting to the community and working to realize their dream of bringing environmental awakening to the region through the establishment of the Iracambi Rainforest Research Center. Her tale has everything, from bandits to insane elections to horribly delayed projects to the artificial insemination of the cows. The cast of characters, colorful in the extreme, includes a squatter cowboy who can fix almost anything, neighbors involved in vendettas, homeless bridegrooms, and women who take sewing seminars in the farmhouse kitchen hoping to make money from the new skills, in spite of the prevailing attitude that a woman's place was in the home. In spite of myriad setbacks, there is tremendous goodwill. "Most Brazilians spent their salary the day they received it, and most shopkeepers put up their prices accordingly. If you were quick off the mark you might find an item in the supermarket going at last week's price, but the supermarket staff tended to be quicker than you were." Le Breton's can-do attitude and successful gerry-rigging makes her an entertaining MacGyver of the jungle. (May)

Binka's previous book, The Greatest Gift, is about the life and death of Sister Dorothy Stang who was assassinated in Anapú, Pará, in February 2005 whilst working to protect the rights of family farmers threatened by illegal loggers. It was published by Doubleday of New York in February 2008, to commemorate the third aniversay of the assassination. During her US tour in March 2008, Binka was the guest of WAMU's Diane Rehm show which is broadcast nationally and internationally through National Public Radio (you can hear the podcast from this link) and also appeared in New York on the Joey Reynolds Show. The Brazilian version of this book A Maior Dádiva, was published by Globo in May 2008. It is available in a Kindle edition, too.

This was also given a starred review by Publishers' Weekly, which said:

The Greatest Gift: The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang Binka Le Breton. Doubleday, $21.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-385-52218-2
"Very few religious believers are called upon to give their lives for their faith, but those individuals are often remarkably inspiring. Contemporary martyr Sister Dorothy Stang (1940-2005) was no exception. She lived a rich and full life and laid down that life for her friends. Her story is captured beautifully by British journalist Le Breton, author of Voices of the Amazon. Eighteen years after entering a convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Dorothy was granted her desire to serve the poor as a missionary in Brazil. Her somewhat naïve imagination about missionary life was quickly transformed by the harsh realities of the dire poverty she witnessed. During the almost 40 years she served in Brazil, Sr. Dorothy fell in love with the people and the country, and courageously aided in the struggle of poor farmers for land rights against logging and development companies. The story is heartbreaking and Le Breton's prose is gripping throughout, as she weaves in several personal narratives from Dorothy's family and close friends. These lend a gentle warmth to an account that is at times harrowing and cruel. This story deserves to be read."

Other Publications

Voices from the Amazon, 1993, Kumarian Press (www.kpbooks.com), Bloomfield, CT, USA, tells the story of the Amazon forest as seen through the eyes of the forest people themselves; the Indians, the rubber tappers, the loggers, the ranchers, the miners, and the river people. Read this book and learn about the complex issues surrounding the development and conservation of the forest, without getting bitten by mosquitoes and soaked by Amazon rain!

A Land to Die For, 1997, Clarity Press, Atlanta GA, USA, is a true story of a brave man murdered for his beliefs. In Brazil's fierce land wars, Padre Josimo stood up for the dispossessed in the remote regions of the Amazon forest, and paid for it with his life. This is the book to tell you about a land where there is no law except the law of the gun. The Portuguese version of this book, Todos Sabiam, was published by Loyola, São Paulo, Brazil, in May 2000 and is in its second edition.

(Photo left: Launch of Todos Sabiam in the National Congress in Brasília)

Rainforest, 1997, Longmans, London, introduces children of rainforest countries to their forest heritage.

Trapped: Modern Day Slavery in the Brazilian Amazon, 2003, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT, USA, (with a forward by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) is an account of modern day slave labor in the Amazon. This book was given a Judges Award at the Harry Chapin Media Awards in 2004, organised by the World Hunger Year Organization. The awards are given for outstanding journalism works on hunger and poverty related issues. It was published in 2002 in Portuguese as Vidas Roubadas, by Edições Loyola, São Paulo.

An English edition was launched in London in May 2003 (see press release) and an Italian version (Vite Rubate), with a forward by Luis Inácio "Lula" da Silva, President of the Republic of Brazil, published by EMI (www.emi.it), was launched in Bologna in June 2003. The French version (La Piège) came out in October 2003.

Click on the links above to buy your own copy of Binka's book, or on the Amazon logo below. Any books that you purchase when clicking through from this link will earn Iracambi a referral percentage.