"A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails" Herald "Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor" Literary Review "It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago" New Statesman "The Swedish Academy's citation called his novels "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony." It is a description which perfectly captures his latest novel" The Times "Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature" -- Anthony Daniels Sunday Telegraph
