José Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago died in June 2010.

"A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails" Herald "Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor" Literary Review "It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago" New Statesman "The Swedish Academy's citation called his novels "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony." It is a description which perfectly captures his latest novel" The Times "Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature" -- Anthony Daniels Sunday Telegraph

José Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago died in June 2010.

"A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails" Herald "Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor" Literary Review "It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago" New Statesman "The Swedish Academy's citation called his novels "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony." It is a description which perfectly captures his latest novel" The Times "Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature" -- Anthony Daniels Sunday Telegraph

José Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago died in June 2010.

"A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails" Herald "Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor" Literary Review "It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago" New Statesman "The Swedish Academy's citation called his novels "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony." It is a description which perfectly captures his latest novel" The Times "Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature" -- Anthony Daniels Sunday Telegraph