Skylight

The lost novel by José Saramago. Where it all began...

"A committed writer whose work remains essential [and] ended up making the world a more humane place thanks to his literature."
Greta H. Quiroga,Harper's Bazaar

"They fell. Only two tears. Life is worth no more than two tears."

Dawn breaks in Lisbon. On a mid-20th-century morning, the novelist's gaze peers out the window of a neighborhood. A day not much different from others is announced: Silvestre the shoemaker, who opens his workshop; Adriana, who leaves for work while three women in her house begin another day of sewing; Justina, who faces a long day punctuated by arguments with her brutal husband; the kept woman Lidia, and the Spanish Carmen, immersed in nostalgia...

Discreetly, the novelist's gaze descends and, suddenly, ceases to be a mere witness to see through the eyes of each character. Chapter by chapter, he jumps from house to house, from character to character, opening up a world governed by necessity, great frustrations, small illusions, the nostalgia for times that weren't even better. All covered by the tedious silence of the dictatorship, Beethoven's music, and a question from Pessoa: Should we all be married, futile, taxable?

Saramago's meticulous and patient writing masterfully portrays an era marked by despair. Written when the author was thirty-one, Claraboya brilliantly anticipates the elements of Saramago's universe.

Critics have said:
"A simple and amusing story, with the strength and depth that have defined all of Saramago's subsequent work. In Claraboya we find an ironic, sharp, and precise look at human relationships, and we are surprised by the confidence with which the young writer is able to delve into these memorable characters."
Público (Portugal)

"Saramago makes an elusive reality understandable, with parables sustained by imagination, compassion, and irony."
Nobel Committee

"A man with a sensitivity and an ability to see and understand that are far beyond what we common mortals generally see and understand."
Héctor Abad Faciolince

"Saramago is an example, a very dignified style of life and literature, which demonstrates the possibility of swimming against the current [...]. His words have the value of an antifreeze, a personal remedy against the gales of cynicism that surround us."
Luis García Montero

"I don't know, nor do I want to know, where Saramago got that diabolical narrative tone, both harsh and pious, [...] which allows him to tell so close to the heart and at the same time so close to history."
Luis Landero

"Saramago writes novels about myths to demystify them, [...] always to address the reality around him, to deal with current problems that are everyone's, and so that everything is clear from the beginning."
Rafael Conte, Babelia

"Like Günter Grass or Cees Nooteboom, Saramago aspires to connect with an audience that transcends national boundaries."
El País