Las Cinco Estaciones del Amor

by João Almino

Ana está en la menopausia, deprimida y sola. Quiere deshacerse de los objetos que la vinculan a su fallido matrimonio, a pasiones incumplidas y a sucesos que
la lastimaron. La llegada de Norberto, uno de sus mejores amigos, da otro sentido a su vida, pero él es mujer ahora y su convivencia se torna insostenible. Ana le prende fuego a los reductos del pasado y se pega un tiro. Despierta en un hospital, rodeada de su familia y amigos, pero su desánimo persiste hasta que encuentra el verdadero amor en Carlos, quien la rescató de las llamas; y para sorpresa del lector, también el cumplimiento de su recurrente pesadilla.

203 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book on my shelf for about 10 years and finally getting around to reading it, deciding I needed a break from the heavier reading finds from the writers festival. This is a lovely meditation on a life. A short novella really of about 155 pages, the story is in 5 parts spanning the year 1999 into 2000. The story is a 55 year old woman, Ana Kauffman, recently retired, reflecting on her life and getting ready for a reunion of her university posse, who referred to themselves as the useless, a political comment that was really a reflection of the futility of trying to change the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil at their time in uni. It is a story of love, requited and unrequited and grief, of friends lost and opportunities missed. I posted this quote from chapter one earlier this week: "Once corrected the youthful error of thinking it was possible to change one another, I was convinced that love is, in fact, a brief insanity, and marriage a long folly". I'll leave you with this quote from chapter 5: "Wanting love is to live with the anxiety of not achieving it. But it can arrive...To the possibility of friendship and tenderness, friendship open to desire." Enjoy