The story of the love of Pedro and Inês is one of the most famous and tragic love stories in the history of Portugal. There are several books on the subject - last year, for this challenge, I read one other - and since João Aguiar is an author I have been meaning to try I couldn't resist picking this one up.
I really enjoyed how the author chooses to approach the legend. When the story begins Inês is already dead and Pedro is king! His search for her murderers has ended and he is about to sentence them. It is through the eyes of Alvaro Pais that we get to know the king and through the kings memories that we get to know his affair with Inês.
The story doesn't follow a chronological order as it goes back and forth depending on the events being related or remembered. I quite liked Pedro's description as an obsessed man and found this a very intense reading.
I really enjoyed it!
Hi! I've read this many years ago and I remember I liked it too. Classic of our History!
ReplyDelete****
True! :-)
Delete