The High Mountains of Portugal

Author/Guide: Yann Martel

Why a Booktrail?

1904 (before and after) : How far would you walk to find a hidden artefact or ultimately to find yourself?

ISBN: 978-1782114697
Genre: Fiction, Historical, magical realism

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What you need to know before your trail

Story 1 – 1904 – A young man named Tomás discovers an old journal which hints at the location of an extraordinary artefact that – if it really does exist – would redefine history. Intrigued, he sets out to find the treasure and takes one of Europe’s earliest cars
STory 2 – 1938 – Ensebioa pathlogist is a huge fan of Agatha Christie. He is alone one night when a woman knocks on his door claiming to have the body of her husband in a suitcase. She wants to know how he lived, so he cuts him open to find out more about him.
Story 3 – 1981- Peter Tovey, a member of the Canadian Senate has recently lost his wife and it’s suggested he joins an official trip to Oklahoma. Once there he goes to the zoo and meets an ape by the name of Odo. They have more in common than you might think.

Locations

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Travel Guide

This is a guide not just to the mountains in Portugal but the country as a whole and many of the mountains in the book found by Tomas are in fact in Africa and Angola. The Mountains of Bailundu and the mountains of Pungo Ndongo. But this is more than a story of geography but rather one of the human soul.

There’s magical realism on each and every page and you go on a journey of discovery about the mountains and the relationship between humans and animals who go there. It’s a twisty turny kind of tale, much like the trails around the mountains themselves. And if you’ve never met a chimp before,and decided to take him back home with you, all the way from America to Portugal,then this is the journey to prepare for here.

There are many high mountains in Portugal, namely the Serra da Estrela Mountains and the Serra da Malcata where you can spot a wild lynx although no monkeys…well maybe after you read this book.