“The inklings of Saramago’s style swell throughout . . .
Skylight
shines.” —
New York Times
“Unmistakably Saramago . . . There is no shortage of wonders to be found in [
].” —
Washington Post
“A fascinating and startlingly mature work . . . The book is a gem.” —
Boston Globe
Lisbon, late 1940s. The inhabitants of a faded apartment building are struggling to make ends meet: Silvio the cobbler and his wife take in a disaffected young lodger; Dona Lídia, a retired prostitute, is kept by a businessman with a roving eye. Humble salesman Emilio’s Spanish wife is in a permanent rage; beautiful Claudinha’s boss lusts for her; Justina and her womanizer husband live at war with each other. Happy marriages, abusive relationships, jealousy, gossip, love—
is a portrait of ordinary people painted by the master of the quotidian, a great observer of the immense beauty and profound hardship of the modern world.
“The gifted young Saramago makes these characters click together in a way that's extremely sympathetic.” — NPR,
All Things Considered
“It was only a matter of time before a work of such extraordinary honesty and perception would make its way into the world.” —
San Francisco Chronicle