Skylight

<p><strong> A fascinating and startlingly mature work . . . The book is a gem. -- <em>Boston Globe</em></strong> </p><p><br></p><p> Lisbon late 1940s. The inhabitants of a faded apartment building are struggling to make ends meet: Silvio the cobbler and his wife take in a disaffected young lodger; Dona Lídia a retired prostitute is kept by a businessman with a roving eye. Humble salesman Emilio's Spanish wife is in a permanent rage; beautiful Claudinha's boss lusts for her; Justina and her womanizer husband live at war with each other. Happy marriages abusive relationships jealousy gossip love--<em>Skylight</em> is a portrait of ordinary people painted by the master of the quotidian a great observer of the immense beauty and profound hardship of the modern world. </p><p><br></p><p><strong>The gifted young Saramago makes these characters click together in a way that's extremely sympathetic. -- NPR <em>All Things Considered</em> </strong></p><p><strong> It was only a matter of time before a work of such extraordinary honesty and perception would make its way into the world. -- <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></strong></p>