A Time of Angels: A Novel - Softcover

Schonstein, Patricia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060562439 ISBN 13: 9780060562434

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2005

Synopsis

Primo Verona is born with a gift of clairvoyance so strong that he is able to predict his own mother's death while still in her womb. Brought up on a rich diet of astronomy, philosophy, and storytelling, Primo accurately reads the futures of the local community who pay him in honey cake, tiramisu, and other delicacies. Pasquale Benvenuto is the owner of a beloved wine bar and delicatessen whose culinary reputation rests on recipes for the fruited breads and salamis his father taught him to make.

Together Primo and Pasquale form an easy friendship triangle with the beautiful Beatrice, Primo's wife and Pasquale's former girlfriend. But when Beatrice leaves her husband for her old love, Primo is devastated. He casts spells to spoil Pasquale's creations and to win back Beatrice - but inadvertently conjures up an unexpected visitor.

About this title

About the Author

Patricia Schonstein is the author of the novels The Apothecary's Daughter and Skyline, which won the Percy FitzPatrick Prize in 2002 and was long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She has a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Cape Town. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Schonstein now lives in South Africa.

From Publishers Weekly

A colorful expatriate neighborhood of Italian Jews in post-apartheid Capetown is the setting for this charming if familiar novel of food, love and magic. Flamboyant Pasquale, a gifted baker and sausage maker, and Primo, a modest soothsayer, have been best friends since childhood. Even Primo's marriage to their other childhood friend (and Pasquale's lover), the beautiful Beatrice, doesn't pull them apart. But as the novel opens, Beatrice, after 20 years of marriage, has succumbed to Pasquale's entreaties and left her husband. Heartbroken, Primo lashes out with a halfhearted curse or two before lapsing into depression. His curses play out to spoil Pasquale's much-loved cooking and summon the Devil (surprise: he's a benign, beautiful angel). In addition to the love triangle, the novel reveals the histories of Pasquale's and Primo's families and the lives and loves of other neighborhood residents—Pasquale's sister, the brothel owner; her rival, the seamstress; the seamstress's lovers; the tattoo artist; the plastic surgeon; the venerated, poker-playing local doctor. While many sweet details of community life and a meticulous, respectful attention to the skills of all trades brighten the novel, the themes and language are familiar; the conclusion brings together many elements of the characters' fates but fails to imbue them with meaning. Still, those who prefer their world literature with a light touch will likely find much to enjoy.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060562439
• ISBN 13: 9780060562434
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240