‘The Last Grandfather’ marks the return of Afonso Reis Cabral to publication under Dom Quixote, this time with the story of Portugal’s most renowned writer, who destroys his secret manuscript shortly before dying, leaving his grandson with the burden of uncovering the mystery.
Set against the backdrop of the Colonial War, the absence of a mother, and the secrets of a family marked by losses and passions, ‘The Last Grandfather’ narrates a literary inheritance intertwined with life.
‘My Brother’ was Afonso Reis Cabral’s first novel, which won the LeYa Prize, followed by ‘Pão de Açúcar’ in 2018, the recipient of the José Saramago Literary Prize.
Another release by Dom Quixote in September is ‘New Phases of the Moon’ by João de Melo, marking the debut of the Azorean author—celebrating 50 years in literary career—in the diary genre.
Initiated in 2017 and concluded in 2024, the pages of this diary reflect the author’s views on the surrounding reality, revealing not his intimate daily life but his perspectives and opinions on himself and others, as well as societal, cultural, and political thoughts stemming from that reality.
The publisher will also release the first novel by Brazilian writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva (known for ‘I Am Still Here’), ‘Happy Old Year’, a classic of contemporary Brazilian literature that recounts the accident which left the author quadriplegic.
This autobiographical novel about the accident that confined Marcelo Rubens Paiva to a wheelchair at the age of twenty quickly became a hit among the public and critics, was extensively translated, adapted for theatre and cinema, won awards such as the Jabuti, the most prestigious of Brazilian letters, and became a frequent topic of academic studies in Brazilian universities.
Making his debut in Portugal, American author Don Carpenter arrives for Portuguese readers, also through Dom Quixote, with his book ‘Hard Rain Falling’, originally published in 1966 when the author was only 34 years old, initially labeled an underappreciated masterpiece—revered by writers, ignored by the public—eventually becoming a cult classic after the author’s suicide in 1995.
The novel follows the story of Jack Levitt, abandoned as a baby and raised in orphanages, who grows up on the fringes of society, surviving in the pool halls of Portland until he encounters Billy Lancing, a talented ‘snooker’ player marked by racism.
Separated by destiny—Jack by reform school and Billy by oppressive married life—they reunite years later at San Quentin prison, where violence and the struggle for survival expose the darker side of the American dream.
Dom Quixote will also release ‘Made of Guilt’, the debut novel of Bulgarian writer Joanna Elmy, and ‘Blood Ties’, a new book by Nordic noir master Jo Nesbø, while Asa publishes ‘The Women’s Barrack’ by Fermina Cañaveras, about European women forced into prostitution in concentration camps.
Casa das Letras publishes Mieko Kawakami, author of ‘Breasts and Eggs’, this time with the novel ‘All the Lovers of the Night’, a story about solitude, social isolation, and a harsh critique of the current way of life in Japanese society.
Another literary highlight for September is ‘The Rain that Casts Sahara Sand’, the debut of award-winning writer Ana Margarida de Carvalho at Companhia das Letras, described as a novel “of unprecedented brilliance, filled with unique characters,” according to the publisher.
The same publisher will also release ‘The Substitutes’ by Brazilian author Bernardo Carvalho and ‘The Just Disproportion’ by Portuguese author Daniel Jonas.
From Alfaguara comes another novel by Colombian Juan Gabriel Vasquez, ‘The Names of Feliza’—a fusion of biography, invention, history, and imagination—as well as a work by Italian Beatrice Salvioni, ‘The Wayward’, sequel to ‘The Undesired’, published in 2023.
Cavalo de Ferro brings new books in September from Irene Sola, ‘I Gave You Eyes and You Saw the Darkness’ by Zbigniew Herbert, ‘Labyrinth by the Seaside’ by Leo Perutz, ‘The Swedish Cavalier’, and, by Carmen Laforet, ‘The Island and the Demons’.
At Relógio d’Água, a Booker Prize 2024 finalist, ‘Embrace’ by Anne Michaels, will be published, along with the essay book ‘Loose Ends II’ by José Gil and Ana Godinho, and ‘Conversations on God — A Dialogue with Simone Weil’ by Byung-Chul Han.
Almedina Group launches ‘My Life — Leon Trotsky’, the autobiography of the writer, Marxist intellectual, and Bolshevik revolutionary, organizer of the Red Army, marking 85 years since his death by Stalin’s orders in Mexico, where the author of ‘Problems of Everyday Life’ was exiled after being expelled from the Communist Party and the Soviet Union.
Other highlights from this publisher include the first-time publication in Portugal of the complete text ‘Human, All Too Human’ by Friedrich Nietzsche, the classic by Joseph Conrad ‘Gaspar Ruiz and Other Stories’, and the work ‘Perfect Victims’ by renowned Palestinian writer and poet Mohammed El-Kurd.
Caminho releases a new novel by João Paulo Borges Coelho, ‘Nocturnal Narration’, and a book of chronicles by Djamila Ribeiro, ‘Crossings’, while Porto Editora will publish ‘Parallel Lives’ by British writer Iain Pears and, in its contemporary collection, releases ‘The Existence of Life’ by Iida Turpeinen.
In the field of poetry, ‘The Intensity Forest’ by Maria Gabriela Llansol, ‘Poetry’ by Jean-Arthur Rimbaud, and ‘Age of Loss’ by Daniel Jonas, all arrive at Assírio & Alvim.
Highlights from Grupo Editorial Presença include ‘The Ritz Bartender’ by French Philippe Collin, ‘Precipice’ by British Robert Harris, author of ‘Conclave’, ‘The Bookstore of Forbidden Books’ by Marc Levy, and ‘After Annie’, the latest novel by Anne Quindley.
