Riacho Doce, State of Pernambuco, Brazil, 1929–1934

Riacho Doce is the sugar plantation owned by the Pimentel family. Dores’s mother was on the staff at the plantation’s Great House when she gave birth to Dores. Nena, the Great House chef, takes Dores under her wing in the kitchen. Dores is bullied often, and Nena is a harsh parental figure. When Dores is nine years old, Graça and her parents move into the Great House. There, the two girls forge an unlikely friendship and share a passion for music. They listen to records, the radio, and the cane cutters’ music, and they sing often together. The two commit to pursuing a dream in musical entertainment as adolescents. They leave Riacho Doce to attend the Sion School per Senhor Pimentel’s order. Eventually, Senhor Pimentel lost Riacho Doce, which had long been in financial decline.

Petrópolis Sion School, near State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1934–1935