Ernestina

Ernestina is more than an autobiographical novel or a volume of fictionalised family memoirs. It is a fresco of Trás-os-Montes, from the 1930s to the 1950s, a work that transcends regionalist accounts and has crossed borders, becoming an editorial phenomenon in the Netherlands. Ernestina is also the name of the author's mother and the intrepid protagonist of this book. About her, J. Rentes de Carvalho said: "Mother of an only child, her life, which was one of sadness, bitterness, and terrible loneliness, was worthy of a book. I wrote it for her. And her death breaks the last flesh and blood link that connected me to the land where I was born. Fortunately, there are still many ties that bind me to it."