THE STING OF PEPPERCORNS
 
A novel set in colonial Goa, a region on the west coast of India ruled by the Portuguese till 1961. It's May 1961, and in the village of Loutolim in Portuguese Goa, Dona Isabella prepares for the unexpected return of her eldest and favourite son Paulo, who is studying law in Coimbra, Portugal. On the very day of his return to Goa, Paulo barely escapes execution by a group of masked guerrillas seeking the overthrow of the colonial Portuguese regime.
 
Paulo's life, and that of his rich and traditional Brahmin family, takes a tragic turn with the military takeover of Goa by India after 451 years of Portuguese rule. The integration of Goa into India disentangles the socio-economic foundation of the Albuquerque family. Paulo's sister falls in love with a man of lower caste. Dona Isabella laments the loss of her culture and the unraveling of her children's lives.
 
Haunted by nightmares, and daydreaming of his return to Portugal, Paulo takes to drinking, drugs, and sex orgies on the Baga beach with the hippies. This brilliantly-crafted story unfolds like a canvas, suffused with a profound sensibility, and a sense of foreboding. In *The Sting of Peppercorns*, Gomes takes on history, love, death, the conflicts of assimilation, and the cultural mores of a people -- the people of his native Goa.
 
About the Author
 
Antonio (J. Anthony) Gomes is a Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University and Director of the Cardiology Consultative Services and Senior Consultant in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He is the author of several poems published in anthologies, books, and magazines; a book of poetry entitled Visions from Grymes Hill (Turn of River Press, Stanford, Connecticut, USA, 1994); and a text book of cardiology, Signal Averaged Electrocardiography: Basic Concepts, Methods and Application (Kluwer Academic Press, London/Amsterdam, 1993). He lives in Manhattan and Staten Island in New York.
 
Product details
Perfect Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: MANJUL
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8190568299
ISBN-13: 978-8190568296
Package Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.7 x 2 cm