O Alçapão- The Trapdoor

Its seems a bit unfair to write a review, in english, for a book that as of yet has no english translation, but I’ve read it, so it counts to my total. This book- by portuguese author João Leal is a little bit surreal and confusing, but other than that a real treat to read. Alcapao weaves together 3 seemingly separate story threads. In the first, Rodrigo, an orphan living in the cruel world of the orphanage S. João must struggle to survive and make sense of the world. In the second we are introduced to the foating island of Lothar, where the inhabitants believe themselves to be the only survivors of a the Great flood until one day, two of its inhabitants decide to leave in search of life. The third story thread is about the daughter of a King and her trusty slave who must hide themselves from the god of their enemies. Whilst seemingly disparate stories in different places in time and space, Leal weaves all three stories together into an elaborate tapestry of magic, reality and the unknown. I’m hoping that it gets translated so that anglophones can enjoy this really rather well written and well constructed little novel.