EQUATOR

I haven't been doing much lately. That's of course if you assume that trying to get over my sinusitis and typhoid fever is not much. The scope of my activity has been, however, limited to what you can do around the house: lying on the sofa, pestering my boyfriend, watching Gilmore Girls and, inevitably, reading.

I'm not one for reviewing books - it always seems a daunting, complex task. Hence, this post is not meant as a review; I simply want to tell you about a book you've never heard of.

Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares is a novel mostly set on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. I found out about its existence through our visit to the country in question and, hearing that it told the story from the beginning of the XXth century, when the plantations were still working, I decided to read it as soon as I could lay my hands on it. It felt like a grand finale to our marvellous journey. When we got back home, I ordered the book (in English, translated by Peter Bush).

I must admit there are many things I greatly enjoyed about it. It is written in a lovely, old-fashioned style, which gives it the air of the great novels from the beginning of the past century. The plot itself is gripping and full of surpises. Nothing is missing: love, friendship, politics, treachery, crime, justice... You could even say the novel tries to encompass too many topics throughout its 370 pages. This is why, in my opinion, some plots are not sufficiently developed, which would call for either removing them from the book or extending them adequately.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Equator tells the tragic story of Luís Bernardo Valença, a rich bachelor with firm if idealistic ideas about slave labour and equality among men. Appointed by the King himself, Luís Bernardo finds himself on an impossible mission: he must leave everything behind and sail to São Tomé in order to take the post of Governor and try to convince the British that the thousands of labourers shipped to the plantations from Angola are not treated as slaves but as Portuguese citizens. A practically impossible task, even more so as Luís realises that there is no help to be anticipated from the plantation owners. The British Consul's initial friendliness is a comfort. But will he stand by Luís with equal eagerness when he finds out about a very improper love affair? The plot thickens. It seems there is no way out.

As I said above, I have a feeling that the author tried to include a tad too much: a vast historical background, the slave labour dispute, the issue of colonisation, the omnipresent themes of love, friendship and loyalty... patriotism and sense of duty... a man torn between what he wants to do and what he must do... loneliness... and, finally, the hot, humid, insane equatorial climate.

Consequently, you will be surprised to know what I liked most about Equator. The story is fine (if a bit cliché), the pace is fine (if a bit slow at times) but what attracted me most was... the fact that it is set here, right here, and Luís Bernardo, in spite of being a fictional 1907 character, experiences many things which I have been through, too: the drastic change of milieu, the heat, the rapid, intense sunsets, the impossible humidity, the predictable rain, the diseases...

Let me finish with a quote:

Palm trees on the main avenue opposite swayed in the wind and more than anything else reminded Luís Bernardo he was in Africa, even though on the high seas at the Equator. He was intoxicated by the suffocating smell of chlorophyll coming from land, evervated by the dank humidity in the air (...). He sighed deeply, looked all around, to the mountains shrouded in damp mist, and looked back, whispering enthusiastically, "I'm going to enjoy this! I'm going to love this!"

No, not a bad book after all.