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The
2003 Award
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The Painter of Birds (also published as The Migrant Painter of Birds) by
Lídia Jorge Nominated by:
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Publishers of Nominated Editions:
Harcourt ISBN : 015100658X
Harvill Press ISBN : 1860468861 |
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors. |
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ABOUT
THE BOOK
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| Set
in an old farmhouse in Portugal, a house far enough from the Atlantic not
to hear the breaking waves during a storm but near enough for the walls
to be corroded by the salt in the air, The Painter of Birds explores
the timeless themes of family, independence and the often painful experience
of emigration. With most members of her large family having left the hardship of life in this landscape of sand and stone for jobs in faraway places, a young woman struggles to piece together her past from the widely varying stories she is told. Left behind by a free-spirited, feckless father, a seducer with a rare gift for drawing, she is raised by her uncle who has married her mother. The only memories of her father's two brief visits are the echoes of his footsteps on the stairs leading to her room. The only signs of him are letters from the widest reaches of the world, letters accompanied by brilliantly coloured drawings of exotic birds. The daughter longs for her father and, as she grows up, she is determined to find him and uncover the truth. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| Lídia Jorge was born in 1946 in the Algarve region of Portugal. She studied French literature and then taught in Angola and Mozambique during the colonial wars in those countries. She has written eight novels and one collection of short stories. Along with José Saramago, she was awarded the City of Lisbon Prize. |
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Find out more about the author on the following websites: Read
an excerpt from The Migrant Painter of Birds
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