He wrote The ABC of Castro Alves, a biography of the poet from Bahia, before going into exile in Uruguay and Argentina, where he researched the life of the revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes, which he published in 1942 as The Knight of Hope.

The Vargas regime wanted to produce more economic wealth and production from the Brazilian agricultural sectors instead of relying on external help, especially in the south such as Rio Grande Do Sul, and the north such as Paraíba.

However, the regime left the north-east (the setting of this novel) relatively untouched by reform and development due to fear of resistance as it was an established area of support.

These geo-political contexts led to deep political divides between communist and right wing conservatism ideologies, especially in regards to the idea of a growing capitalism in a new era.

They decide to head for work in the coffee plantations in São Paulo state, taking with them two of their children, three grandchildren, and two of Jerônimo's brothers and their families.

Amado also explores the idea of nature and the inhospitality of the Brazilian north eastern wilderness and landscape through which the characters must travel to search for a better life in São Paulo.

Clearly the book is promoting an anti-capitalist, and anti Estado Novo stance and also painting a socialist picture of communal revolt in the context of economic hardship for the peasant worker.