The Return
SynopsisPlot
Luanda, 1975. The Angolan War of Independence has been raging for at least a decade, but with the collapse of the Salazar dictatorship, defeat for the Portuguese is now in sight. Thousands of settlers are fleeing back to Portugal to escape the brutality of the Angolan rebels. Rui is fifteen years old. He has lived in Luanda all his life and has never even visited the far-away homeland - although he has heard many stories. But now his family are finally accepting that they too must return, and Rui is filled with a mixture of excitement and dread at the prospect. But just as they are leaving for the airport, his father is taken away by the rebels, and the family must leave without him.
Story
About this book
Luanda, 1975. Angola's long war of independence is nearing its end, and with the Salazar dictatorship gone in Lisbon, Portuguese control is collapsing. Fifteen-year-old Rui has spent his whole life in the city and has never visited Portugal, the distant homeland he knows only through family stories. His family finally accepts that they must leave too, and Rui feels both excitement and dread.
On the day of the flight, as they set out for the airport, Rui's father is taken away by Angolan rebels. His mother, his sister and Rui board the plane without him, and arrive in a country they barely know, unsure whether he is alive or whether news will ever reach them. They must start again without knowing what has become of him.
Dulce Maria Cardoso keeps the story close to Rui's point of view, with attention to family, adolescence and daily detail rather than military events. The novel belongs to the history of the retornados, the Portuguese settlers who left Angola and other African colonies as colonial rule ended in the mid-1970s. Its themes include dislocation, uncertain identity, and a homeland known mainly from stories.
