Book Review: The Yellow Sofa

This is a wonderful book that improves as it goes on.

This is the first book written by Eça de Queirós that I have read, simply because I’ve never seen a book of his in a bookshop in Vancouver. I bought this one in Lisbon at the bookshop at the Timeout Market.

Alves is a successful businessman with a beautiful wife,Ludovina, and good friends with his business partner, Macheda.

However, that all changes when one day he comes home early to find his wife leaning on the shoulder of his business partner on the yellow sofa of the title. Cue outrage by Alves towards them both.

He makes his wife go and live with her father and asks his friends to act as his seconds and organise a duel with Macheda. This takes some time, time that has a calming effect on Alves, time where he begins to feel lonely and miss both Macheda and Ludovina. Eventually, Alves comes to his senses and makes his peace with them both, but there are a few twists and turns on the way.