Fernanda Frick’s debut novel, Partner, is not only a romance story of a young man who falls in love with an older woman, but it is also a detailed examination of the changing roles that women play in society today. In 1950s Brazil, a Nationality Act was passed that put an end to marriages between minors and grownups. This act granted Brazilian women the right to marry whomever they wished without the need for social approval from a community or the government as well as a legal age for marriage. Once this Nationality Act was enacted, all barriers to a woman’s ability to acquire property were removed making it possible for her to marry whomever she pleased.
Now, almost fifty years later and four decades after the passing of the Nationality Act, Fernanda Frick has returned to her own time in order to marry a man in her life. Age and responsibilities had taken their toll on her marriage to a much older man, so she made the decision that now was the perfect time to tie the knot with her much younger husband. However, as with any woman, age was something that they both considered an obstacle to be overcome, yet as her parents had always expected, they had both decided that it would be best that age never become an issue in their new marriage.
After much preparation on both sides, the day before their planned wedding, Fernanda Frick met her future husband in a Lisbon restaurant. While waiting for their waiter to bring their meal, Fernanda noticed that her future husband, unlike her, had no idea what a pension was and how it worked in Brazil. When asked why he hadn’t mentioned this during their interviews, Frick responded by saying that he had no business knowing anything about such things as a pension or a woman’s career if he was hoping to have children one day. However, after going off to enjoy their romantic evening, the couple discovered that not only did they share the same passion for their work, but they also shared the same passion for each other. As the couple shared a passionate kiss under the starlight, Fernanda finally said that she knew that her dream career as a journalist was finally going to come true, and that her dream husband was going to accompany her everywhere she went.