Finished reading: Jénifer, or a French Princess - The (Truly) Unknown Islands (Jénifer, ou a Princesa da França - os Açores ignorados, in Portuguese) by Joel Neto 📚

I bought a copy of this book a few weeks ago while we were visiting the Azores. A slim volume and quick read (even for me, not the fastest of readers), Jénifer is by a local author. Having enjoyed our time on the islands and lapped up the natural beauty that the Azores offers, I wanted to immerse myself a little deeper in the culture of this autonomous region of Portugal that sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

This book presents another side of the Azores, a side that I would imagine most casual visitors to the islands do not see; I certainly didn’t though maybe a hint in the capital, Ponta Delgada. Namely the government built housing projects and those who live there. I cannot speak to the accuracy or otherwise of the descriptions shared in the story, though I have no reason to believe that they are not accurate. The author is from the Azores.

So while the beauty of the Azores is shared in part, the lives of the main characters is anything but beautiful. This does not take away from this being a rewarding read, and opening up the Azores to being more than the natural beauty that it is.