O Gesto que Fazemos para Proteger a Cabeça

On a forgotten road in the Alentejo, close to Spain, two men cross paths. One has come home to the land with vengeance on his mind; the other is toiling up a steep path under a sack of olives, simply to survive. From across the border come word of firing squads and fugitives from the Civil War, while goods, people and even infants are bought and sold. In the span of one day, from one dusk to the next, two hostile communities that cannot do without each other collide: one hungry and wind-beaten, the other rich on smuggling, guarded by a local strongman and the secret police, and sheltering every kind of outcast, from Spanish republicans and gypsies to circus folk.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

255 pages in the original

Genres

Historical, War (assigned by AI)

Set in

Portugal, Spain

First published

2019 by Relógio D'Água

Author's age

50 when first published

ISBN

9789896419707 (original)