In the latest novel from #1 best-selling author Paulo Coelho, a woman attempts to overcome midlife ennui by rediscovering herself in a passionate relationship with a man who had been a friend in her youth. A woman in her thirties begins to question the routine and predictability of her days. In everybody’s eyes, she has a perfect life: happy marriage, children, and a career. Yet what she feels is an enormous apathy. All that changes when she encounters a successful politician who had, years earlier, been her high school boyfriend. As she rediscovers the passion missing from her life, she will face a life-altering choice.

My Review

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately I can’t say it was amazing.  I could not connect with the main character at all while reading this.  She seemed really aloof to me.   I read it pretty quickly because I kept hoping it would get better but it just did not get there. I am giving this book 3 stars because although I can give or take on the storyline, it had me intrigued enough to continue reading.

About the Author

The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO is considered one of the most influential authors of our times. His books have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide, have been released in 170 countries and been translated into 80 languages. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, he soon discovered his vocation for writing. He worked as a director, theater actor, songwriter and journalist. His collaboration with Brazilian composer and singer Raúl Seixas gave some of the greatest classic rock songs in Brazil. In 1986, a special meeting led him to make the pilgrimage to Saint James Compostela (in Spain). The Road to Santiago was not only a common pilgrimage but a turning point in his existence. A year later, he wrote ‘The Pilgrimage’, an autobiographical novel that is considered the beginning of his career. In the following year, COELHO published ‘The Alchemist’. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. Other titles include ‘Brida’ (1990), ‘The Valkyries’ (1992), ‘By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept’ (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo entitle ‘Maktub’ (1994), the compilation of texts ‘Phrases’ (1995), ‘The Fifth Mountain’ (1996), ‘Manual of a Warrior of Light’ (1997), ‘Veronika decides to die’ (1998), ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in ‘Stories for parents, children and grandchildren’ (2001), ‘Eleven Minutes’ (2003), ‘The Zahir’ (2005), ‘Like the Flowing River’ (2006), ‘The Witch of Portobello’ (2006), ‘The Winner Stands Alone’ (2008), ‘Aleph’ (2010), ‘Manuscript found in Accra’ (2012) and ‘Adultery’ (2014). He has received numerous prestigious international awards. He is member of the Academy of Letters of Brazil since 2002 and Messenger of Peace by the United Nations since 2007. In 2009 he received the Guinness World Record for the most translated author for the same book (The Alchemist). The man behind the author likes to write and practices Kyudo – a meditative archery. He loves reading, walking, football and computers. In that sense, he has always maintained a close contact with his readers but now, and thanks to the new media, he has established an incredible feedback with them. Paulo was the second most influential celebrity on Twitter in 2010 according to Forbes and he is the writer with the highest number of followers in the social media.

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