A book that was released on strong controversy whose author is Henrique Raposo.
I must confess that my curiosity got the better regarding this little book, just read it because of the uproar and controversy involving its launch. I shalt perplexed by the movement of hatred and real censorship, which had never seen in Portugal, which was intended to prevent its release and I thought, but after all what is so terrible inside this volume of 107 pages to the point of threatening the author? And what I discovered? People who wanted to boycott "the promised Alentejo" surely did not read it carefully. Henrique Raposo does not denigrates, or tries to destroy the bucolic image of beyond the Tagus, only makes a personal portrait, based on the origins of his family, which uses as the foundation to address the history of the Alentejo people and tries to explain their way of being and be in life without whitening its past and this is truly courageous and innovative. I read it obsessively , because I thought the writing of this author was interesting, there is no wasted words, his reasoning is clear and concise, he even based some of hs findings on data published by the census or scientific studies and I could not help to rejoice in the fact that finally someone has an explanation, very logical to the high rates of suicide that always plagued this part of the country and not only based on the almost endemic loneliness of Alentejo. Another aspect that I appreciated from this work was to have been given to me the opportunity to know more about the way of being and of the Alentejo women, was a real discovery, their freedom regarding marriage and children after the comparison Henrique Raposo does with the North of Portugal, I say it was extremely informative and made me see with fresh eyes the Alentejo in general, but in a good way. I really enjoyed "the promised Alentejo" not because of the controversy that surrounds it, but because the author show us a part of Portugal, through his personal testimony without complexes and it is not because of the book I'll stop loving the Alentejo, on the contrary, my love is even greater if indeed this is possible, the difference is that it's real. Have a nice reading.
