We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

Violeta among the Stars

Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781529415148

Price: £9.99

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

I might no longer exist here at this moment
this moment might no longer exist for me

Violeta is driving along a lonely stretch of late-night motorway, caught in a tumultuous storm. When her tired eyes close for just a second, her car veers off the road, overturns, and comes to rest on an empty stretch of sodden ground.

And as she lies amid the wreckage, suspended between this world and the next, Violeta’s troubled life will quite literally flash before her eyes . . .

Violeta Among the Stars weaves memories and feelings as Violeta reflects on her death and her life, the piercing highs and the seedy lows. An astonishing portrait of a seemingly insignificant life from one of Portugal’s greatest living writers.

“An extraordinary piece of writing on the life of an ordinary woman” Litro
Absolutely compelling . . . this novel is truly unforgettableIrish Independent

Translated from the Portuguese by Ángel Gurría-Quintana

Ángel Gurría-Quintana is a historian, journalist and literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese. He writes regularly for the books pages of the Financial Times, and his translations include the anthology Other Carnivals: Short Stories from Brazil and The Return, by Dulce Maria Cardoso.

With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

Reviews

A vibrant style, a brilliant novel
De Standaard
Every word is in the right place and the result is pure music
De Volkskrant
A devastating novel
Matricule des Anges
A powerful, moving monologue that weaves intimate voices with the history of contemporary Portugal
Véronique Rossignol, Livre Hebdo
Exceptional ... absolutely compelling ... this novel is truly unforgettable
Anne Cunningham, Irish Independent
Quite extraordinary and a privilege to read . . . Devastating but immensely moving . . . Violeta among the Stars is related with rare eloquence
Rosie Goldsmith, European Literature Network
Both the translator Ángel Gurría-Quintana and Cardoso herself are true masters of their craft . . . an artistic achievement in style and form that will move you, even if you don't want it to. It is an extraordinary piece of writing on the life of an ordinary woman.
Litro