The story of a slave girl who overcame many hardships before gaining freedom and love, and won worldwide recognition. Bernardina Guimaraens’s novel, published in 1875, touched hearts with its timely theme of protecting human dignity—because slavery in Brazil was abolished only thirteen years after the book’s release. Inspired by compassion for the heroine, many Brazilians named their daughters Izau ra. A century later, in 1976, the novel was adapted into a successful TV series that became popular in many countries. “The Slave Girl Izau ra” became a cult work thanks to its realistic portrayal of life and customs in provincial 19th-century Brazil and a happy ending, where purity and nobility of the soul triumph.