SOLVED. Secret door into Indian House of Records [s]

[Andrew]

I haven't actually read this book but it was described to me and I'd like to find the title/author. It takes place in a populated Indian city, like Dehli where a large round House of Records, like City Hall or private library, is and the people live in little houses attached to the outside walls of the building. The main male character works at the House of Records. His home has a secret door to the interior of the building but he's not allowed to use it, he must go through the front door like everyone else. He sneaks in at night through his personal door to search for contact information about a woman he's fallen in love with but lost contact with. He is afraid of heights and the ladder he needs to get to the records is a problem for him. Does this ring any bells for anyone? Thanks.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I'm curious, - giving this a bump.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

If Andrew doesn't answer this, then I'm for moving it to Abandoned by the next mod to see this.

[laurenpie]

I'd like to read this one too, if it's found.

[Emlen]

Not exactly right (not set in India, I don't remember any ladders, and the woman isn't someone he knew beyond her file) but Jose Saramago's All the Names has a similar plot.

[Andrew]

I had almost forgotten I was looking for this. It is indeed Jose Saramago's All the Names. Thanks for the detective work.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Great! Here's a description:

Senhor José is a low-grade clerk in the city's Central Registry, where the living and the dead share the same shelf space. A middle-aged bachelor, he has no interest in anything beyond the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, and death that are his daily routine. But one day, when he comes across the records of an anonymous young woman, something happens to him. Obsessed, Senhor José sets off to follow the thread that may lead him to the woman-but as he gets closer, he discovers more about her, and about himself, than he would ever have wished.

Seems like it might be set in Portugal?

[Emlen]

Heh. I think I've only helped three people through this group, and two of them turned out to be looking for All the Names. It must be an easy book to half-forget.

(And Lobstergirl, Saramago is from Portugal, but the book's setting isn't named or identified with any real-world location.)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I suspected as much.