Fiction
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, José Saramago, 1984
By famed Portuguese writer José Saramago, this novel won the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature and tells the story of a man’s final year of life, spent wandering around Lisbon.
Pereira Maintains, Antonio Tabucchi, 1994
Set in 1938, this novel follows a journalist working for a Lisbon newspaper during Antonio Salazar’s fascist dictatorship.
A Small Death in Lisbon, Robert C. Wilson, 1999
A thrilling crime novel, this book has two different plots—one set in modern times following a murder investigation, the other set during WWII and about German occupation—that eventually converge.
The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa, 1982
By famed Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa, this book, which he describes as a “factless autobiography,” was published after his death.
Non-fiction
The Portuguese: The Land and Its People, Marion A Kaplan, 1991
This informative book provides a great introduction to Portugal and its long history, touching on geography, culture, the Portuguese people and more.
