MEMORIAL DO CONVENTO (NOVA EDIÇÃO)

A brilliant reinvention of the historical novel, Memorial do Convento established José Saramago internationally and made him one of the most significant names in contemporary literature.
At the heart of this story is the construction of the National Palace of Mafra, also known as the Convent. The absolutist monarch King João V, fulfilling a promise, ordered the building’s erection at the beginning of the 18th century, during the colonial process, at the cost of an immense quantity of gold and diamonds from Brazil, as well as the blood of thousands of workers. Among them was a certain Baltasar, from the Sete-Sóis lineage, who had lost the use of his left hand in a war and was in love with Blimunda, a young woman with extraordinary powers. These are individuals rarely noted in the so-called official history, yet they form its most delicate and essential fabric.
Memorial do Convento—first published in 1982—propelled the Portuguese writer José Saramago to international acclaim, thanks to his blend of historical narrative and individual story. While firmly rooted in the tradition of the best fiction of his country, the work captivates readers from diverse cultures.
Like Historia do Cerco de Lisboa and A Jangada de Pedra, to name just a few of the author's celebrated novels, the fine irony in the observation of historical events and the elegant fictional fabric serve a constantly brilliant, modern, and socially devastating critique. The result is a novel about the clash between the harshness of individualism and the delicacy of collective dreams. With its absolutely innovative approach to the historical novel—a genre that has often served national heroes and their stiff poses—Memorial do Convento recovers the illusions, fantasies, and aspirations of a Portugal that sought to be great and eternal, even as it remained fragile and delicate.