A selection of newly translated short stories centred on Lisbon represent the literary heritage and culture of this diverse and extraordinary city. From famous names to new voices, Lisbon Tales describes a city in continuous and vibrant change.
In a time of terror for Europe’s monarchs—imprisoned, exiled, executed—Napoleon’s army marched toward Lisbon. Cornered, Prince Regent João had to make the most fraught decision of his life. Protected by the British Navy, he fled to Brazil with his entire family, including his deranged mother, most of the nobility, and the entire state apparatus. Until then, no European monarch had ever set foot in the Americas. Thousands made the voyage, but it was no luxury cruise. It took two months in cramped, decrepit ships. Lice infested some of the vessels, and noble women had to shave their hair and grease their bald heads with antiseptic sulfur. Vermin infested the food, and bacteria contaminated the drinking water. Sickness ran rampant. After landing in Brazil, Prince João liberated the colony from a trade monopoly with Portugal. As explorers mapped the burgeoning nation’s distant regions, the prince authorized the construction of roads, the founding of schools, and the creation of factories, raising Brazil to kingdom status in 1815. Meanwhile, Portugal was suffering the effects of abandonment, war, and famine. Never had the country lost so many people in so little time. Finally, after Napoleon’s fall and over a decade of misery, the Portuguese demanded the return of their king. João sailed back in tears in 1821, and the last chapter of colonial Brazil drew to a close, setting the stage for the strong, independent nation that we know today, changing the New World forever.
International Bestseller: “A moody, tightly constructed historical thriller . . . a good mystery story and an effective evocation of a faraway time and place.” —The New York Times After Jews living in sixteenth-century Portugal are dragged to the baptismal font and forced to convert to Christianity, many of these New Christians persevere in their Jewish prayers and rituals in secret and at great risk; the hidden, arcane practices of the kabbalists, a mystical sect of Jews, continue as well. One such secret Jew is Berekiah Zarco, an intelligent young manuscript illuminator. Inflamed by love and revenge, he searches, in the crucible of the raging pogrom, for the killer of his beloved uncle Abraham, a renowned kabbalist, discovered murdered in a hidden synagogue along with a young girl in dishabille. Risking his life in streets seething with mayhem, Berekiah tracks down answers among Christians, New Christians, Jews, and the fellow kabbalists of his uncle, whose secret language and codes by turns light and obscure the way to the truth he seeks. A marvelous story, a challenging mystery, and a telling tale of the evils of intolerance, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon both compels and entertains. “The story moves quickly . . . a literary and historical treat.” —Library Journal ''Remarkable . . . The fever pitch of intensity Zimler maintains is at times overwhelming but never less than appropriate to the Hieronymous Bosch-like landscape he describes. Simultaneously, though, he is able to capture, within the bedlam, quiet moments of tenderness and love.” —Booklist (starred review)
Take Six is a celebration of six remarkable Portuguese women writers: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Agustina Bessa-Luís, Maria Judite de Carvalho, Hélia Correia, Teolinda Gersão and Lídia Jorge. They are all past mistresses of the short story form, and their subject matter ranges from finding one’s inner fox to a failed suicide attempt to a grandmother and grandson battling the wind on a beach. Stories and styles are all very different, but what the writers have in common is their ability to take everyday life and look at it afresh, so that even a trip on a ferry or an encounter with a stranger or a child’s attempt to please her father become imbued with mystery and humour and sometimes tragedy. Relatively few women writers are translated into English, and this anthology is an attempt to rectify that imbalance and to introduce readers to some truly captivating tales from Portugal.
During the decades leading up to 1910, Portugal saw vast material improvements under the guise of modernization while in the midst of a significant political transformation - the establishment of the Portuguese First Republic. Urban planning, everyday life, and innovation merged in a rapidly changing Lisbon. Leisure activities for the citizens of the First Republic began to include new forms of musical theater, including operetta and the revue theater. These theatrical forms became an important site for the display of modernity, and the representation of a new national identity. Author João Silva argues that the rise of these genres is inextricably bound to the complex process through which the idea of Portugal was presented, naturalized, and commodified as a modern nation-state. Entertaining Lisbon studies popular entertainment in Portugal and its connections with modern life and nation-building, showing that the promotion of the nation through entertainment permeated the market for cultural goods. Exploring the Portuguese entertainment market as a reflection of ongoing negotiations between local, national, and transnational influences on identity, Silva intertwines representations of gender, class, ethnicity, and technology with theatrical repertoires, street sounds, and domestic music making. An essential work on Portuguese music in the English language, Entertaining Lisbon is a critical study for scholars and students of musicology interested in Portugal, and popular and theatrical musics, as well as historical ethnomusicologists, cultural historians, and urban planning researchers interested in the development of material culture.
This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Excerpts: "I am afraid this ghost story will bear a very faded aspect when transferred to paper. Whatever effect it had on you, or whatever charm it retains in your memory, is, perhaps, to be attributed to the favorable circumstances under which it was originally told.” (The Ghost of Doctor Harris) "The aspect of the venerable mansion has always affected me like a human countenance, bearing the traces not merely of outward storm and sunshine, but expressive also, of the long lapse of mortal life, and accompanying vicissitudes that have passed within.” (The House of the Seven Gables) American novelist and short story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne's (1804-1864) writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered to be part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often centre on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. Contents: Introduction: Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne The House of the Seven Gables (A Novel) The Minister's Black Veil The Hollow of the Three Hills The White Old Maid Dr. Heidegger's Experiment The Birth-mark Young Goodman Brown Rappaccini's Daughter Roger Malvin's Burial The Artist of the Beautiful John Inglefield's Thanksgiving Wives of the Dead An Old Woman's Tale Antique Ring Graves and Goblins The Ghost of Doctor Harris Apparitions
The buzzing life of bars, warm evenings by the Manzanares river, the subterranean terrors of the Metro, icy winters and hot, empty summers, student days in the sixties, the ruthless underworld of the city's mafia, this captivating anthology reflects the character of Madrid and the lives of the madrilenos, as its inhabitants are called, in all their splendid variety. Some stories are bizarre, some funny, some serious, and as you read you'll travel through the city. The famous streets and monuments of Madrid - Cibeles, Calle de Alcala, Plaza Mayor, and the Royal Palace - as well as the poor, working-class barrios unfrequented by sightseers will pass before your eyes like a moving picture. Few of these stories have previously been translated into English. Some names, such as Benito Perez Galdos, Javier Marias, Juan Jose Millas, and Carmen Martin Gaite, will be more familiar than others but all deserve to be better known. There is a map at the back of the book to indicate the places mention
This carefully crafted ebook: "Dark Tales: Collected Gothic Novels and Stories (Illustrated)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Excerpts: "I am afraid this ghost story will bear a very faded aspect when transferred to paper. Whatever effect it had on you, or whatever charm it retains in your memory, is, perhaps, to be attributed to the favorable circumstances under which it was originally told." (The Ghost of Doctor Harris) "The aspect of the venerable mansion has always affected me like a human countenance, bearing the traces not merely of outward storm and sunshine, but expressive also, of the long lapse of mortal life, and accompanying vicissitudes that have passed within." (The House of the Seven Gables) American novelist and short story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne's (1804–1864) writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered to be part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often centre on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. Contents: Introduction: Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne The House of the Seven Gables (A Novel) The Minister's Black Veil The Hollow of the Three Hills The White Old Maid Dr. Heidegger's Experiment The Birthmark Young Goodman Brown Rappaccini's Daughter Roger Malvin's Burial The Artist of the Beautiful John Inglefield's Thanksgiving Wives of the Dead An Old Woman's Tale Antique Ring Graves and Goblins The Ghost of Doctor Harris Apparitions
Lisbon, a city of timeless allure, weaves its magic through cobblestone streets and grand palaces. Its history is a tapestry of conquests and cultural shifts, yet beneath its historic charm lies a world of opulence and intrigue that only a select few ever truly experience. Welcome to "Lisbon's Secrets - Confessions of a Life of Luxury," a journey into the heart of this enigmatic city where every encounter is steeped in elegance and every connection holds the weight of a hidden story. In this book, you will step into the shoes of our protagonist, a woman who navigates the shimmering world of Lisbon's elite with a grace that masks the complexities of her life. Her story is one of balance—a delicate dance between her public image and private reality. As you traverse through lavish parties, clandestine meetings, and intimate revelations, you will uncover a side of Lisbon that is rarely seen, yet deeply fascinating. Our heroine’s journey begins at the grandiose Palácio da Independência, where she is first introduced to the sophisticated and often treacherous world of the city's elite. From the shimmering facades of exclusive mansions to the shadowy corners of historic neighborhoods, every chapter reveals a new layer of her life and the city she inhabits. Prepare to be captivated by a narrative where luxury meets vulnerability, and where every secret unveiled is both a revelation and a question. Lisbon’s secrets are waiting to be discovered, and they are as multifaceted and intriguing as the city itself.