Books I carted off to Portugal:

Em, Kim Thúy. I can't resist tales of diaspora and exile.

Sweet Thursday, John Steinbeck. This is for the husband, who is the pickiest reader ever. Only "modern classics", i.e. Steinbeck and Graham Greene for him.

Three Summers, Margarita Liberaki.

The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell.

Swann's Way, Marcel Proust, because I'm finally at the age when I want to read Proust.

Earthly Paradise, Colette. An autobiography, because I'm nosy.

The Light of Day, Eric Ambler. Purchased at Belfast International Airport.

Summer, Edith Wharton. Also purchased in Belfast, because I can't have enough books on holiday.

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Not that I mean to read every single one. Only it is reassuring to have a small library at hand, the evidence of my desire and curiosity, to lend me ballast in this world.




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