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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria"-thus begins
Coelho's latest novel, a book that cannot decide whether it wants
to be fairy tale or saga of sexual discovery, so ends up satisfying
the demands of neither. In his dedication, bestselling Brazilian
novelist Coelho (The Alchemist) tells readers that his book will
deal with issues that are "harsh, difficult, shocking," but neither
his tame forays into S&M nor his rather technical observations
about female anatomy and the sad but hardly new fact that many
women are dissatisfied with their sex lives will do much to shock
American readers. In Maria, however, the author has created a
strong, sensual young woman who grabs our sympathy from the first,
as she suffers unrequited love as a child, learns a bit about sex
as a teenager and, at 19, makes the ill-advised decision to leave
Rio on a Swedish stranger's promise of fame and fortune. Maria's
trials and triumphs-she goes from restaurant dancer to high-class
prostitute-would make for an entertaining if rather prosaic novel,
but Coelho, unfortunately, does not leave it there. Instead, he
embarks on a philosophical exploration of sexual love, using
Maria's increasingly ponderous and pseudo-philosophical diary
entries as a means for expounding on the nature of sexual desire,
passion and love. At the end, the story boils down to a rather
predictable romance tarted up with a few sexy trappings.
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Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description:
A new, international bestseller by the author of The Alchemist
tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village,
whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a
tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true
love, instead believing that "Love is a terrible thing that will
make you suffer ..." A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva,
where she dreams of finding fame and fortune. Instead, she ends up
working as a prostitute.
In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love as she
develops a fascination with sex. Eventually, Maria's despairing
view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young
painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose
between pursuing a path of darkness, sexual pleasure for its own
sake, or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the
possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
In this gripping and daring new novel, Paulo Coelho sensitively
explores the sacred nature of sex and love and invites us to
confront our own prejudices and demons and embrace our own "inner
light."
