A true story. An extraordinary life.
Memoirs of a Woman Reborn
A life interrupted. A body changed.
A woman who kept becoming.
Edite Mara Cabral’s intimate story of survival, motherhood and finding her way back to herself. Written by Alessandra Marba.
English & Portuguese editions
Watch the book trailers ↓
Watch the story
A glimpse of the courage, faith and life within these pages. Watch in English or Portuguese.
What happens when life changes everything? For Edite Mara Cabral, surviving cancer was only part of the story. There was motherhood. Faith. A changed body. And the courage to begin again. Written by Alessandra Marba, Naked and Raw is an intimate memoir of a woman finding her way back to herself. Discover her story. Available in English and Portuguese on Amazon.
O que acontece quando a vida muda tudo? Para Edite Mara Cabral, sobreviver ao câncer foi apenas parte da história. Vieram a maternidade, a fé, um corpo transformado e a coragem de recomeçar. Escrito por Alessandra Marba, Nua e Crua é o relato íntimo de uma mulher que reencontra a si mesma. Conheça sua história. Disponível em português e inglês na Amazon.
The story
Before there was a book, there was Edite: a mother, a hairdresser, a woman holding a family and a life together.
When her marriage breaks down and a cancer diagnosis follows, the familiar shape of her world falls away. Treatment changes her body. Separation changes her home. The future becomes something she must learn to imagine again.
Told through Edite’s experience, Naked and Raw follows the difficult, deeply human work of rebuilding: accepting help, returning to work, rediscovering intimacy and learning to look at herself with tenderness.
There is fear here. There is also humour, faith, the love of her children and the people who stay. A life larger than the illness that interrupted it.
You are not lost.
In this life, my angel,
everything is a path.
Inside the book
Across 23 chapters, Edite’s story moves from rupture and uncertainty towards a new relationship with her body, her work and love.
The end of a marriage, symptoms that can no longer be ignored and the search for answers. The opening chapters bring us into the moment Edite’s familiar world begins to unravel.
Chapters 1–5 · From “The Voice That Changed Everything” to “Separation”Surgery, hospital stays and the people who help her through. These chapters make space for dependence and fear, and for the small acts of care that become impossible to forget.
Chapters 6–17 · From “The Surgery” to “Return Home”Chemotherapy, the pandemic and life after treatment. Returning to her work means rediscovering purpose, while learning to live with uncertainty becomes part of the everyday.
Chapters 18–21 · From “Chemo” to “Back to Work”Edite speaks candidly about scars, an ostomy bag, femininity, rejection and desire. The final chapters explore self-acceptance and what it takes to open a life to intimacy again.
Chapters 22–23 · “Rediscovering Femininity and Sexuality” and “Love”A moment with the book
An opening glimpse of the voice and the friendship behind Naked and Raw.
Excerpt from the English manuscript.
The most memorable encounters in life usually happen when we least expect them. I met Edite in 2022, in circumstances that, at first glance, seemed ordinary—but which, over time, proved to be one of those moments capable of triggering profound transformations, like dominoes falling into sequence, opening up unexpected paths.
I was renting an apartment from her aunt, and Edite came to help her with the contract signing and paperwork at the notary’s office. Everything indicated that it would be just a formality, a common episode in the midst of my transition to a new city. But on that day, something bigger was unfolding.
A story to sit with
For readers drawn to honest memoirs about identity, change and the quiet work of rebuilding a life.
A way into conversations about care, vulnerability and what it means to stand beside someone through uncertainty.
A story that invites discussion about motherhood, faith, body image and the expectations placed on women.
Make room for this story
Choose your reading language and Amazon store. Your purchase is completed with the retailer.
Portuguese edition
Memórias de uma mulher renascida
Buy on Amazon Brazil ↗Book language: PortugueseLinks open Amazon in a new tab. Check the listing for current price, format, delivery and availability before purchasing.
Before you turn the page
Yes. It is based on the life of Edite Mara Cabral, written by Alessandra Marba. Edite’s experiences and voice are at the centre of the narrative.
Naked and Raw is the English title; Nua e Crua is the Portuguese title. Use the edition links above to select the language you want to read.
The book speaks candidly about cancer, treatment, relationship breakdown, grief, body image and sexuality. Faith, motherhood, friendship and humour are also central to Edite’s story.
Its story reaches into wider questions of identity, care, self-worth and starting again. Readers who enjoy personal memoirs may connect with those experiences too.
Follow the link for your chosen edition to Amazon. The retailer’s listing has the current format options, price and delivery information for your location.
For reading groups, interviews or conversations about the book, contact Alessandra through Instagram ↗.
NAKED AND RAW · ALESSANDRA MARBA