THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER INTRODUCED BY MOHSIN HAMID
'The most impressive novel I've read for years' PHILIP PULLMAN
'Stunning' DIANA ATHILL
In the sweltering summer of 1938, with Lisbon in the grip of Portugal's fascist dictatorship, out of nowhere a young man arrives on an elderly widower's doorstep. Lonely and overweight, Dr Pereira lives a quiet, monotonous existence. But when the charismatic Monteiro Rossi bursts into his life, everything changes. Seeing in him the son he never had, Pereira strikes up an unlikely alliance that will result in his political awakening and a devastating act of rebellion. This is his testimony.
'The most impressive novel I've read for years' PHILIP PULLMAN
'Stunning' DIANA ATHILL
In the sweltering summer of 1938, with Lisbon in the grip of Portugal's fascist dictatorship, out of nowhere a young man arrives on an elderly widower's doorstep. Lonely and overweight, Dr Pereira lives a quiet, monotonous existence. But when the charismatic Monteiro Rossi bursts into his life, everything changes. Seeing in him the son he never had, Pereira strikes up an unlikely alliance that will result in his political awakening and a devastating act of rebellion. This is his testimony.
Pereira Maintains is small only in size. Its themes are great ones - courage, betrayal, fidelity, love, corruption; and its treatment of them is subtle, skilful, and clear. It's so clear, in fact, that you can see a very long way down, into the heart of a flawed but valiant human being, into the sickness of a nation, into the depths of political evil. It's the most impressive novel I've read for years, and one of the very few that feels truly necessary Philip Pullman