O Alfarrabista de Ponta Delgada is a narrative in two voices, in different geographies and times. Since her adolescence, Laura has kept silent about a terrible memory, revived in the depopulated days of the pandemic. George Brown, head gardener, cherishes the dream of making the wind blow in the trees. A portrait of the Azores, and its masters, in the second half of the nineteenth century.
“It’s a book as beautiful as a garden.” – Fernando Alves, TSF
“(...) the waters surrounding the action of The Bookworm, a narrative in two voices set in the Azores, are different. On one side, there is the protagonist who searches among the old books for a copy of the diary of the other character with whom she shares the story, the gardener George Brown. Just as Laura is afraid to open the volume when it comes into her hands, the reader also proceeds carefully so as not to be disappointed by the scent of a seductive plot. As the saying goes, a “botanical garden is more than just a collection of exotic trees, it is a work of art”. It is this literary vegetation that the novel is full of, as well as other knowledge, such as that of educating the wind of Pico. Just as the gardener is advised not to give up on utopias, The Bookworm makes us believe that there are still books that are truly beautiful.” - João Céu e Silva, Diário de Notícias
“A beautiful novel that, through its many characters (…) reflects the complexity of the various facets of the human race, showing how it maliciously stands out from natural harmony, but that, ultimately, with twists and imbalances that can take centuries to correct (social inequality in the Azores), Good prevails over Evil and good intentions (of Brown and Laurinha), of an ethical nature, predominate over evil ones.” – Miguel Real, Jornal de Letras
Chronicle by Fernando Alves about the book: https://www.tsf.pt/programa/sinais/o-vento-em-busteliberne-14909143.html
O Alfarrabista de Ponta Delgada com oferta de livro
Francisco Duarte Mangas was born in Rossas, Vieira do Minho. He is a fiction writer, poet and author of children's books. Among other works of fiction, he published: Diário de Link, Geografia do Medo, Jacarandá, Pavese no Café Ceuta, A Cidade das Livrarias Mortas, A Menina and O Gato Karl. He is the president of the Association of Journalists and Men of Letters of Porto and director of the magazine Gazeta Literária.
148 pages, 140x210mm
ISBN: 978-989-9104-05-1
RELEASE DATE: April 2022