La cárcel, which was re-issued in the Colección Premio Planeta and appeared in an English version by Gregory Rabassa in the USA in 2003, has turned out to be a true rediscovery. Even after 30 years, it is still a small literary masterpiece. The book combines a simple, humorous and peculiar story with philosophical reflections upon the absurd human existence in a world, where liberty seems possible only in confinement.

The narrator Antón Castán has been in prison for three years now, although innocent and without a single hearing. His only hope is that one day the artificial rose, which he has planted into a pot with natural soil, may come into bloom. He spends his time reading from his diary to his fellow inmates, lively commentating the entries. When colonel Leyola takes over the prison administration, things worsen and a revolt breaks out. Taking his chance in the tumultuous atmosphere, Antón secretly beats the colonel to death with a club. Though not officially accused, his inmates put him on trial, taking the roles of the judge, the prosecutor and the defender. Was it revenge for Leyola killing his girl-friend? Or could he no longer bear his innocence and therefore wanted to make his imprisonment worthwhile? The jailbirds prosecute Antón, however, he is soon released from jail. But is it freedom? His new-found liberty seems relative to him, and as he leaves his cell, he feels like he is leaving his dead self behind.

A Small Oriole flees from its cage, beginning a quest for its own identity. Throughout its journey, it thinks about these three questions: Who am I? Where am I from? Where am I going? Along the way, it sees beautiful landscapes and makes new friends, such as a cow, a pine tree and a buddha statue, until it finally meets another oriole with whom it can continue its journey. The story is based in Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan, and the author uses woodcut printing to create the book. The text incorporates elements of philosophy and Zen, and a careful reader might see a political and social dimension regarding independency, solidarity and friendship in the text. In any event, while browsing through the book, the reader will, just like the oriole, embark on a voyage of self-discovery about some of the elemental questions in the lives of all of us, in a magic setting.

Grandma is taking a nap, and Tiny is terribly bored. So she sets out to have some fun on her own. Tiny packs her small cutlery set, gets on her bike, and turns into a dashing explorer, just like that. Her dog Abu comes along and makes a brave companion in the great adventure ahead of them. They encounter lots of monsters along the way and, unfortunately, Tiny and Abu get caught by two of the monsters. Can they get away in the end?

Tiny’s Big Adventure is about a little girl who bravely explores the world. Even the most ordinary things can seem scary in the eyes of children, but Tiny faces all these strange things calmly and confidently. This is an exciting adventure created with a great deal of fantasy, reminding us all what imaginative children we once were and that it’s never too late to see things from a different perspective.

The Village of Vanished Souls (“A Aldeia das Almas Desaparecidas”) is a moving and gripping novel divided into two volumes, in which Richard Zimler retraces the Zarco family and explores the devastating effects of religious intolerance in Castelo Rodrigo and surrounding villages. Using real names, dates of arrest and other details about the villagers who were seized by the Inquisition, he presents the reader with an exhaustive piece of research that makes this work a masterful novel and an unrivalled testimony. Love, betrayal, sacrifice, and courage coexist in this gripping novel, a unique account of the horrors of the Inquisition that elevates Richard Zimler to the podium of the greatest storytellers.

It is the year 1671 and in The Village of Vanished Souls I (“A Aldeia das Almas Desaparecidas I”) Isaaque Zarco, a nine-year-old boy, leads a quiet existence in the peaceful village of Castelo Rodrigo. However, not even this remote corner in the north of Portugal escapes the shadow of a powerful evil force, which insidiously spreads through a hitherto peaceful population. And soon, with the mysterious disappearance of a family friend and the murder of a neighbour, the pillars that had sustained Isaaque’s world begin to crumble, putting his own life at risk. Grandmother Flor, an old Castilian midwife and healer, reveals to him something that nobody had dared to tell him: that he and his family are secret Jews – and therefore subject to accusations and imprisonment.
The Village of the Vanished Souls II (“A Aldeia das Almas Desaparecidas II”), where he resumes his work as a tailor’s assistant and takes an even more active part in the services of the city’s clandestine synagogue. The peacefulness of his days, however, is interrupted when, at the age of seventeen, he receives a letter from Flor’s adopted daughter, Sálvia, informing him that the old healer has been arrested by the Inquisition. Isaaque then finds himself immersed in a perfidious world full of betrayals, which culminate in the terrifying auto-da-fé of Madrid in 1680. Worst of all, he learns that, under torture, the old healer has denounced two other friends as secret Jews. Will he be able to save them, at the risk of being arrested?

Benjamin Zarco and his cousin Shelly are the only two members of their family to survive the Holocaust. In the decades since, each man has learned, in his own unique way, to carry the burden of having outlived all the others, while ever wondering why he was spared.
Saved by a kindly piano teacher who hid him as a child, Benni suppresses the past entirely and becomes obsessed with studying kabbalah in search of the ‘Incandescent Threads’, the nearly invisible fibres that he believes link everything in the universe across space and time. Meanwhile, Shelly – devastatingly handsome, charming and exuberantly bisexual – comes to believe that pleasures of the flesh are his only escape, and takes every opportunity to indulge his desires. That is, until he begins a relationship with a profoundly traumatised Canadian soldier and artist who helped to liberate Bergen-Belsen, and who might be a connexion with his lost family in Europe.
Across six non-linear mosaic pieces, we move from a Poland decimated by World War II to modern-day New York and Boston, hearing friends and relatives of Benni and Shelly tell of the deep influence of the beloved cousins on their lives. For within these intimate testimonies may lie the key to why they were saved and the unique bond that unites them. The Incandescent Threads is the latest in his Sephardic Cycle, an acclaimed group of independent works that explore the lives of different branches and generations of a Portuguese-Jewish family, the Zarcos.

In the New Testament, we are told that Jesus resurrected a beloved friend named Lazarus from the dead. Yet the Gospel of John – which contains this episode – does not tell us how Jesus accomplished this miracle or if he had a special purpose for saving his companion. The Gospel of John offers us only two more important details about Lazarus: that his notoriety attracted crowds to Jesus’ appearances and that he found himself menaced by Annas, a former High Priest of the Temple. The revived man’s fate clearly became tied to that of Jesus, who, because of his political and spiritual activism, had also earned the wrath of Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas, the current High Priest. For what purpose did Jesus revive his dear friend? How will the events of Passion week affect Lazarus’ unique understanding of Jesus’ purpose, as well as test their friendship and love? In The Gospel According to Lazarus, Richard Zimler narrates this mysterious and influential story from Lazarus’ own point of view. His impeccably researched novel reveals itself in alluring layers, and his intensely moving exploration of Jesus’ final week from the point of view of his childhood friend adds a level of poignancy and desperation to the story that is certain to disturb some readers and greatly touch others.

Eccentric Chief Inspector Henrique Monroe investigates the brutal slaying of a construction magnate in Lisbon. Is his murder related to the bribing of politicians? Memories of Henrique’s own troubled childhood in Colorado are triggered as he delves deeper into the possibility that the victim’s daughter was being sexually abused by her own father. The Night Watchman is a chilling psychological mystery that explores the ongoing effects of abuse, and a sensitive portrait of contemporary Portugal.

The Warsaw Anagrams is a story about survival, solidarity and revenge set in Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto, magnificently written. When Erik’s nephew Adam’s lifeless body appears on the surrounding wire fence, Erik swears to avenge his murder – and brings to light the most abject perversions of the Nazi ideology. In this profoundly moving and dark novel, Erik takes the readers into Warsaw’s most forbidden territories and into the most heroic chambers of the human heart. The Warsaw Anagrams sold over 70.000 copies in the USA and the UK.

The Seventh Gate constitutes the fourth part of the “Sephardic Cycle”. Berlin 1932. Sophie is an intelligent fourteen-year-old coming of age. She is forced to lead a double life between her Nazi family and her Jewish friends, working against the government in a secret group called the Ring. At the same time, she fears for the safety of her younger autistic brother Hansi. When Hansi’s sterilization order comes, Sophie fights with all her ingenuity and guile to save him. In the end, however, she is forced to make a deadly betrayal. Through successive mysteries, reversals, and surprises – and across a race against time -, The Seventh Gate is at one and the same time a love story and tragedy – and a tale of ferocious heroism.

The Search for Sana, however, is set in our present time: At a writers’ festival, Richard Zimler met the performer Sana whom he found enormously charismatic. The following evening she jumped to her death. This deeply affected him and launched him into an intense, three-year investigation of her past. He uncovered the story of a boundary-crossing friendship between two girls who grew up in Haifa in the 1950s. The Search for Sana vividly depicts the Palestinian and Israeli conflict without taking sides. Richard Zimler succeeds in integrating historical background details into the narration of an action-packed and colourful individual fate.

The third novel, Guardian of the Dawn, takes place in the early 16th century, when the Portuguese conquered the Indian province of Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur. After establishing the Inquisition, they converted tens of thousands of Hindus or immigrant Jews to Christianity. Berekiah Zarco, a Jewish manuscript illuminator, is arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa in the 16th century. Sensing he hasn’t enough strength to continue defying them while being tortured, he commits suicide. His son Tiago tries to find out who set this tragedy in motion, determined to take revenge even if it causes his own death.

In 1989, Zimler began to publish short stories in British literary and American literary magazines. His first novel, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, became an immediate bestseller. It constitutes the first part of the “Sephardic Cycle”, a series of independent works exploring Jewish history through the lives of different generations and branches of a single family. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is a literary mystery set among secret Jews in Lisbon in 1506. Film rights have now been purchased by the head of Cinemate (“Night Train to Lisbon”). The director will be Academy-award winner Bille August.

In April that year, during Passover celebrations, around two thousand of Lisbon’s New Christians – Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in 1497 – were murdered in a pogrom. The story of the sequel novel Hunting Midnight is set in the early 19th century and touches on a number of issues familiar to readers of Richard Zimler, including Jewish mysticism and the forced conversion of Portuguese Jews. New, on the other hand, are the themes of African magic and slavery.

Teresa Silva is a witty, combative, and maddeningly articulate 15-year-old who moves from the comfort of her Lisbon home to the New York suburbs. Unprepared for life in America, she finds solace in her books, her unstoppable sense of humour and her father‘s playful affection. While trying to adapt to her new school and new language, as well as a vastly different culture, she struggles to support her desperately lonely younger brother and gravely ill father and keep from becoming enraged by her neglectful mother, who prefers shopping to caring for her children. She must also try to make sense of her unrequited passion for Angel, her best friend, a Brazilian young man who is frequently bullied for being gay. When Teresa‘s father dies, her problems deepen. While she is grieving, Angel is brutally beaten by other students and drops out of school, which increases her sense of isolation and despair. She quickly falls into depression and begins to consider suicide. Teresa‘s questions about how to regain her enthusiasm and joy – and how to cope in a place where people don’t seem to understand her – reach their climax on December 8, the anniversary of John Lennon‘s death. As she and Angel set out on a pilgrimage to the Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park, a terrible and shocking event changes her destiny forever. Strawberry Fields Forever is an insightful and darkly funny coming-of-age novel, which, with ­fierce irreverence, black humour, and piercing insight, traces Teresa‘s desperate and moving journey toward herself, which in the end leads her back to life. This crossover novel goes straight to the heart of the reader.

In ERNEST: The Robot Who Painted Mischief and Laughter (“ERNESTO: O Robô que Pintou o Sono e a Doçura”), Ernest has gorgeous blue eyes. And with them, he can see all the colors of the rainbow and even some colors that humans can’t see. Although he has a body made of shiny metal, his velvety skin is soft to the touch. He is a handsome, intelligent and sweet-natured robot. And his outstanding memory is full of all sorts of useful information. He might even be able to live out his dream and become the first robot artist in the world! And yet, to become an excellent artist, he must be able to give form not only to what he sees in the world but also what is in his thoughts and, above all, his heart. He will have to learn to paint his feelings about himself and the world. With the help of his beloved family and his animal friends, will he be able to accomplish all that? Will he be able to cross the border that separates robots from humans and become the creative and happy little person that he so deeply wants to be?

One afternoon, Jamie’s father takes the family’s beloved dog – Miss Marble – to the veterinarian and returns alone. His parents explain she was old and in pain and has now found the peace she deserved, but the boy is heartbroken. So to cheer him up, the family goes to the beach. One night, Jamie is having trouble sleeping and walks out to the verandah to look at the stars, which seem strangely comforting. An owl lands on the railing and begins to speak to him, which frightens the boy. The bird – Francisco – calms Jamie by explaining about the unusual kinship between the two of them and then gives him a thrilling ride on his back. After the owl departs, the boy hears a strange voice calling him from the garden below. Curious, he leans over the railing to look down and… And so begins his adventure in the land of talking animals, where squirrels, sloths, dodos and other comical and wise creatures give him replies to his questions about life and death and all that lies in between.

Imagine being able to fly like a butterfly, jump like a kangaroo or peek through the treetops like a giraffe. We all know that children often fantasise that they can acquire the extraordinary characteristics of animals, from the smallest to the most majestic. And it’s good that they do! Because children need to “live” these transformations and have liberating adventures in order to become creative and imaginative adults, capable of realising their dreams.
If I Were a Kangaroo (“Se eu fosse…“) is a book that encourages children (and perhaps their parents too!) to overcome their limitations. This book invites children to swim like a tropical fish or sing like a blackbird – or even ward off bathers on the beach with the “smile” of a shark!

David is eleven years old and lives in London with his parents, his border collie Adam and his mischievous but lazy cat, Violet, who is the narrator of The Dog Who Ate Raindrops. Peter wants to be a professional goalkeeper and world-famous flautist, but after he returns from school with bruises on his arms and face, his family discovers that he has lost all interest in music, sports and most everything else. He also refuses to take Adam and Violet for their usual walk around their neighborhood. What could be wrong with him? When the cat and dog finally learn what’s been bothering Peter, they decide to take matters into their own hands. But will they find the courage to defend their human brother against all that threatens him?
The Dog Who Ate Raindrops is a moving, amusing and thrilling story from renowned novelist Richard Zimler. It won Portugal’s most important prize for children’s literature, the Bissaya-Barreto Prize, and has been singled out for its frank exploration of bullying. The unusual and tender illustrations for the Portuguese edition were done by the country’s most famous painter, Júlio Pomar.

In You (“Vos”), a woman is struck by two life-altering news at the same time: the terminal diagnosis of her father and her pregnancy. Written in second person and based on the author’s diaries, “You” is addressed to the protagonist’s father in a style that resembles a long overdue reckoning and farewell.

As they go through the arduous process of facing the inevitable, the narrator explores the families´ past that both unites and separates its members. In an acute state of emotional crisis, and with her fathers´ condition worsening, she is trying to come to terms with fate and must decide, whether to keep her child: this second child would have a different father than the first one, one with whom she never planned to start a family which probably would be as disfunctional as the one in which she was born.

The protagonist revisits the memories of her growing up in a migrant family. Each flashback casts a light on the economic rise of her father, who provides legal service on the verge of illegality: each summer, the family cars become more comfortable and the holiday destinations more luxurious, but that doesn’t make the living together more harmonious.

With great emphasis Zito manages to depict the childish perspective on a family shaped by conflict:  the always tense relationship between the parents, the indelible memory of the not entirely explicit intra-familial abuse, the stratified roles of each sibling, the power of silence and objects as the thread of shared life. With lucidity and ferocity, Natalia Zito paints the family as a veil, as a blind device that sustains itself. The novel knows how to build up tension, providing a highly captivating lecture and evoking a strong sympathy for the protagonist, in an always clear and precise language.

You revolves around the universal questions: where do we come from? And what are we made of? From there, Zito seeks to expand the limits of the realist story in order to find a form capable of reflecting what happens in the destabilising presence of death.

One afternoon in June 2005, Sarah Katz, an eighty-eight-year-old writer, artist and patron is surprised in her flat in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, by six nurses who, with the consent of her daughters, admit her to a psychiatric hospital. The reason? Sarah’s bizarre behaviour, which, according to her daughters, includes squandering the family fortune, an active sex life and a lifestyle inappropriate for her age. Added to that is a dubious diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia signed by the ambitious young neurologist Orlando Narvaja. What follows is Sarah’s struggle to break the siege that her family imposes on her, the media scandal, and the judicial dispute at the heart of one of the most illustrious families of the Argentine aristocracy.
With one foot in fiction and the other in reality, Natalia Zito immerses herself in the family conflict of a class whose codes seem indecipherable to outsiders, and tells a story that explores the limits of mental health and the vulnerability of old age.

Weird (“Rara”) is the interior monologue of a newly single woman as she waits for the removal van that will collect the objects of what was her and her partner´s home before their marriage fell apart. With each item put into a packing crate, the protagonist tries to unburden herself of the past: of the slow disappearance of passion, of the difficulties in conceiving, of the fertility treatments, of the devastating routine, of the loss of a pregnancy at an advanced stage, of her growing resentment. What seemed forgotten emerges with force…

With sharp irony and implacable honesty, Natalia Zito narrates the intimate existential tragedy of a woman of our time. This powerful and viscerally human novel shows the reverse side of the dream of a perfect family and motherhood.