São Paulo – Editora Nova Onda, a Brazilian publishing house from the TBS group, plans to launch a saga with Egypt as its primary scenery. Telma Bartholomeu, the founder of Nova Onda and author of the book, explains the work will be aimed at a young audience and intends to use a dynamic reading in favor of the plot, which will have three volumes. Pictured above, ancient bottles of Egyptian perfume. Scents of the North African country are a crucial element in the publication.
The idea for the trilogy, named “The Great Discovery” [A Grande Descoberta], came when the businesswoman traveled to Egypt in 2004. “I fell in love with the scents. And that also drove me to study aromatherapy. I finished the course and thought I needed to write about this,” said Bartholomeu in a telephone interview with ANBA.
She has been writing the work for years, but “the big start was this year’s parade of the pharaohs.” The author refers to the parade for transporting 17 royal sarcophagi in the Egyptian capital from their former museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which opened in April this year.
Scents of Egypt
The plot takes place in the backdrop of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The story unfolds with the main characters’ quest to unravel an enigma, which is actually the magic formula of a perfume. The dispute over the recipe involves descendants of Egyptian priests in the present time. “Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. And now we are in a stage of checking historical facts,” stated the author.
The adventure goes through sceneries in Egypt, Morocco, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, the latter two cities in the United Arab Emirates. Inspirations range from the Rosetta Stone to the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass. “I’ve inserted several tourist spots, like hotels they stay. Those that read the book said they pictured themselves in Cairo, on a cruise across the Nile,” pointed out Bartholomeu.
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There are also passages through Italy, France, and the United States. The background to the story is the perfumery tradition of the places visited by the characters.
Web series and contest
In addition to the book, the project has other endeavors. The first is a contest involving one of the pivotal elements of the trilogy. A third action will be creating a web series based on the book’s story.
“The contest will be a reflection of the book. In addition to showing Egypt from a lighter angle, the goal is to bring a little joy. This pandemic brought collective sadness; we want to bring a new perspective,” explained the businesswoman.
For the launch, the publisher is now seeking sponsorship. The idea is to connect with brands somehow involved in the literary work. Among the possibilities seen by Bartholomeu are perfumery and essence houses, travel agencies and airlines, printing companies, producers of glass and perfume packaging, and hotels. Sponsors will be entitled, for example, to have their logos at live streams and in the book.
Contact
Editora Nova Onda
WhatsApp: 55 11 97203-9888
https://www.editoranovaonda.com.br/
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
