Night Train to Lisbon

A man breaks out of his life and goes to Lisbon to search for a mysterious doctor and writer. Pascal Mercier's new novel is both intelligent and sensual and a pure pleasure to read.

In the middle of a lesson, Latin teacher Raimund Gregorius suddenly stands up and leaves. Panicked by a sudden awareness of time running out, he abandons his well-ordered life and takes the night train to Lisbon. In his luggage is a book by Portuguese writer Amadeu de Prado, which chance has brought into his hands. Prado's writing attempts to find words for loneliness, mortality and death, friendship, love and loyalty, all the multiple experiences of a human life. Obsessed by what he reads, Gregorius restlessly struggles to comprehend what it could have been like to be Amadeu de Prado. His investigations lead him all over the city, as he speaks to those who were entangled in Prado's life. Gradually, the picture of an extraordinary man emerges – a doctor and poet who rebelled against Salazar's dictatorship.

But what can it mean to know another person, to understand another life? What are its implications for one's self-knowledge? And is it even possible to break free of the bonds of the familiar? This novel is a many-voiced epic of a journey not only through Europe but also through our thoughts and emotions. A book that impresses both with its sensual impact and its intellectual depth.