Summary
Lidia Jorge: Valley of Passion
Valley of Passion is a moving story about the Dias family with many members, whose authoritarian father Francisco tries at all costs to keep him in the harsh reality of the rural Portuguese hinterland. Walter Dias, a lover of exotic birds and countries, is the black sheep of the family and the first to break free from his father's clutches. Driven by his own heart and dreams, he leaves his parents' home, leaving behind his pregnant girlfriend Maria Ema. Their daughter longs for her father all her life and the only thing that makes her reality bearable are the letters and beautiful drawings of birds that he sends from different addresses. She is the nameless heroine who introduces us to the novel at the moment when she receives the only inheritance from her deceased father - his military blanket...
Lídia Jorge, one of the leading figures of modern Portuguese literature, in this complex and lyrically intoned prose deals with the timeless theme of family, loss and independence and the painful experience of emigration. With careful characterization of numerous characters, polished language, melancholic tone and intimate approach, Lídia Jorge has created a work of exceptional aesthetics in which people and land pressed by changes and immutability are almost palpable.
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