Patricia Marques prepares second police officer in English based in Portugal
AN publication is scheduled for May, after a first volume, “The Colors of Death” [As Cores da Morte] released in June of this year and well published by the British press.
“Engaging and original, it shines with freshness,” praised the literary critic at The Daily Mail, while in The Guardian it was described as “intriguing” and considered “a good detective story”.
The two books are part of a series starring the inspector Isabel Reis, a researcher with supernatural gifts of telepathy and telekinesis who lives and works in Lisbon.
The style is a mix of police and science, as the world is partially fantastic, where people are torn between the normal and the “gifted” who can read thoughts and moving objects with their minds.
Initially, the story was not located in Portugal, she told Lusa, but the result of the ‘Brexit’ referendum in 2016 and the nostalgia she felt in subsequent visits to the family made her change the scenario.
“I know it’s where I’m from, but I didn’t know I’d write about Portugal like that. I really loved it. I have a lot of affection for the characters and for those places I’ve always been. In my imagination, I was walking and coming home.” , he remembered.
Born in Barreiro, 33-year-old Patricia Marques moved with her family to London at the age of eight, where she continues to live in the north of the British capital.
Like the main character in his books, he also has Luso-Angolan ancestry and a large but close-knit family.
By the way, “aunt” was one of the several words that he insisted on keeping in Portuguese in the text, as well as certain foods, such as dry dumplings, chorizo, berlin balls, cod pasteis and pataniscas.
Food, he admits, is a fundamental aspect of Portuguese culture, as is the “warmth” of everyday people.
“Although it’s a book about a crime with science fiction elements, I wanted a human component and for readers to immerse themselves and feel a part of that world, because it’s so different,” he explained.
While no first volume required places she frequents, such as Lisbon and Sesimbra, in the sequel how characters visit Porto, where the writer has never been, so she had to resort to Internet research.
“I would like to go there to get to know the atmosphere better. I have to go to more places in Portugal because I have more books planned and I don’t know them”, he says.
In his opinion, the scenario in Portugal gives “another dimension, a different flavor” to the book, and also a differentiation from other police officers in the English language.
The debut book was written during a Masters in Creative Writing and it was a teacher who insisted that Patricia Marques contact literary agents, eventually getting a contract with a major British publisher.
The next volume is expected to open its doors to the North American market and other countries. But to be published in Portugal, it will have to be translated. “I’ve been here since I was eight”, vinca “”I can’t write in Portuguese as I write in English”.
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