Well Written 2nd novel by the author of Brick Lane. Various intersecting stories from locals as well as vacationers all involved in this small town in Portugal. The seemingly separate pieces come together in the end. The language of the novel is possibly the highlight.
Amazon summary:
Monica Ali's second book is a collection of stories set in the Alentejo province of Portugal, linked by characters and by a vivid sense of place and time.
Teresa is a beautiful young girl from the village who is supposed to marry a suitable man from the same community but who wants to see the world. Vasco is a café owner who is losing business to the new internet café down the road. The unseemly, dysfunctional, but strangely riveting Potts are a family of ex-patriots, trying to cobble a life together, at odds with one another until they run into trouble on the outside. We also meet several English tourists: a young couple engaged to be married and confronting each others weaknesses and idiosyncrasies for the first time, and an older woman imagining a new life, fantasizing about never returning home.

I enjoyed the language of what is certainly a talent for years to come. There is a scene involving the towing of a cow that I will not quickly forget. ( )

A satisfying, poignant if somewhat melancholy read. It's not so much about something as a portrait of a place, a time and feelings without a strong story arc. It has been described as a set of short stories with a shared setting rather than a novel, and that's not a totally unfair description. I've seen a lot of very negative reviews of this work, many comparing it unfavourably with Brick Lane. It's certainly a very different book, and it doesn't have the urgency or the highs and lows of Brick Lane. But I think the unflattering comparisons are unfair. I'm glad I read this book, but I can see that not everyone that liked Brick Lane will like it. ( )

Det er godt mulig at denne boka ville gjort seg bedre dersom jeg hadde lest den selv, i stedet for å kjøre gjennom lydbokutgaven. For meg tok boka aldri helt av, og jeg fikk litt følelsen av at det har gått litt inflasjon i bøker fra andre deler av verden. ( )

Portraits of a series of characters who are visiting or living in a Portuguese village. Not an awful lot happens but the portraits are convincingly drawn and the interactions between the various characters are life-like. Will now go ahead and read Brick Lane, which over-hypedness had put me off from doing before. ( )

Monica Ali's novella - Alentejo Blue - is a collection of moments lived by its vast array of characters. The Alentejo region of Portugal -located in south-central Portugal and known for its tiny, medieval villages - is the perfect setting for Ali's book, which seems to be a collection of interconnected, short stories. Ali is adept at exploring her characters' inner lives. The reader is gradually introduced to the inhabitants of the fictional town of Mamarrosa: Joao, an old timer who has seen the days of Communism and remembers the revolution of the peasants; Vasco, the baker whose obesity and compulsion with eating hides his painful losses; Teresa, a young woman who longs to break away from the village of her birth; Sophie and Huw, an engaged couple whose holiday to Portugal uncovers the deeper issues of their relationship; Elaine, a middle-aged English woman seeking meaning in her tired marriage; Stanton, the alcoholic writer living a shallow existence; and the Potts family, living a dysfunctional existence far from their home in England. As the novella unwinds, the reader glimpses the connections between characters and the main themes evolve.

There is a theme of "old" world vs. "new" - highlighted by the elderly, traditional members of the village vs. the youth and tourists. Change is in the air, but it is unclear whether it will be for the best, or will simply disrupt the flow of village life.

Ali's lyrical prose transports the reader into the countryside of Portugal.

'The plains spread out on either side. Here and there a cork oak stood grieving. The land rose and fell in modest dimensions. Now and again a gleam of machinery, glittering drops of water on an acacia, a giant eucalyptus shedding its splintery scrolls. Field upon field upon field, wheat and grass and fallow, on and on and on, and in this flat composition there was a depth, both sadness and tremulous joy.' -From Alentejo Blue, page 163-

This novel was listed as a 2006 New York Times Most Notable book - and I think it is deserving of that honor. Ali is a gifted writer with great understanding and sensitivity to her characters - picking up Alentejo Blue was like relaxing into small town life, chatting with the neighbors and observing the ebb and flow of the days beneath a Portugal sun. I will be reading more of Ali's novels in the future.

Highly recommended; rated 4.5/5 ( )