A Time of Angels - Hardcover

PATRICIA SCHONSTEIN grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in South Africa. Her first novel SKYLINE won the Percy FitzPatrick Prize 2002, was long-listed for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award 2002 and came second in the South African SUNDAY TIMES Literary Award for Fiction 2001. Her second novel A TIME OF ANGELS is currently shortlisted for the 2004 awards and her new novel, The Apothecary's Daughter, is now available from Bantam Press. She has a masters degree in creative writing from the University of Cape Town.

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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