Eleven Minutes
by Paulo Coelho

Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa

Eleven Minutes tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heart-broken. 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 yet ends up working as a prostitute.
In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love while at the same time developing 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.

Paulo Coelho sensitively explores the nature of sex and love in his gripping and daring new novel.

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 1947. He is the author of eight previous works, including The Alchemist, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, and Veronika Decides to Die. He has sold over 43 million books worldwide and his works have been translated into 56 languages. He has received numerous literary awards from a variety of countries including the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Legion d'Honneur. He and his wife Christina live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.