The protagonist of this novel is told “All you ever do is rain” after it rains during her first three dates with a man who claims that he will end up a congressman. This novel, whose thirteen alternate titles include “Discreet Exit Through the Back Door,” begins with a dedication to the Schumanns, gnomes, and the color scarlet. This novel’s Coca-Cola-loving protagonist drinks cold coffee before bed and learns random facts from her Clock Radio. The parenthetical word (*) “(explosion)” often appears in this novel to signal a change involving the protagonist, whose co-worker Gloría steals her boyfriend Olímpico. After being told that she will meet a rich European husband named Hans by the psychic Madame Carlota, this novel’s protagonist is struck and killed by a Mercedes. For 10 points, the rural-born Macabéa is the protagonist of what final novella by Clarice Lispector? ■END■
ANSWER: The Hour of the Star [or A Hora da estrela]
<Strombeck, Long Fiction>
= Average correct buzz position