~RANSLATORS" ~]RE FACE<br >Appeanng in i~83， M~hBr nO Espelho [Woman between<br >Mirrors] by Helena Parente Cunha quickly attracted notice<br >as one of the most thoroughly literary novelistic responses<br >to the current discussion of woman s role and status R had<br >already won a Cntz e Snusa award in part tor its ability to<br >communicate a woman s perception and understanding of<br >what she experiences. Ant6niu Houaiss， as spokesman for<br >the selection panel， recalls that iurnrs were immediately<br >struck by this "solid psychological synthesis of woman/<br >women without precedent in Brazilian literature， not merely<br >for its possibly confessional aspect， but also above all its pro-<br >Mundly revelatory qualities， in language intensely suited to<br >its aims" At the same time， the panelists recognized the au-<br >thor s achievement in elaborating an esthetic text out of this<br >intimate raw material， honoring her successful "quest for<br >transformation" of experience into art<br > No doubt the English version of the novel will also exer-<br >cise its most immediate appeal as the rendering of a woman s<br >experiences not a generalized ffgule ot woman， but a helo-<br >ine grounded in a particular set of condltluns This nameless<br >but well-specified woman is the product of an upper-middle-<br >class family in Salvador~ Bahia (a city whose name evokes<br >an enduring pamarehal order and the residual forms of a<br >slaver y-based soeiet yI As recently as thirty years ago， mem-<br >bers of many families were burn or married into a limited<br >repertory of roles: the all-powerful father， the indulgent<br >mother， mediator between father and offspring， the daughter<br >with her artificially prulonged innocence， and the young<br > I<br >