Memorial of the Convent

2022: A SARAMAGO YEAR

An exciting historical novel. A love story impossible to forget. A memorable female character.

"Even a simple word is too much if it is life that is changing."
Once upon a time, there was a king who promised to build a convent in Mafra.
Once upon a time, there were the people who built that convent.
Once upon a time, there was a one-armed soldier and a woman who had powers.
Once upon a time, there was a love story without words of love.
Once upon a time, there was a priest who wanted to fly and died mad.
Once upon a time, there was a musician.
Once upon a time, there was a passarola.

Once upon a time.

Critics have said:
"Many echoes this fascinating novel leaves in the memory, but, above all, its love story resonates over the rest of the action like a flute in the middle of a great orchestra."
The New York Times Book Review

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

"A man with a sensibility and a capacity to see and understand far beyond what we common mortals generally see and understand."
Héctor Abad Faciolince

"Saramago is an example, a most dignified style of life and literature, which demonstrates the possibility of navigating against the current [...]. His word has the value of an antifreeze, of 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, harsh and pious at the same time, [...] that 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 that surrounds him, to deal with current problems that belong to everyone, and so that everything is clear from the beginning."
Rafael Conte, Babelia

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