Coelho, Paulo

(Brazilian, 1947– )

Coelho, who has also written plays and worked as a theatre director, is the author of several best-selling novels. Tending to be allegorical, and to be loosely structured around a quest, these simple meditations on spirituality have been translated worldwide. Begin with The Alchemist (1988), the story of Santiago, a young Brazilian boy who decides to travel to Spain after dreaming about treasure. He meets a series of mentors on his journey, including an alchemist who helps him to adjust his priorities, teaching him the true nature of the riches he's looking for. Move onto Veronika Decides to Die (1998), which follows the spiritual journey of Veronika, a young Slovenian woman who, having survived a damaging suicide attempt, is given less than a week to live.

Jorge Luis Borges, François Mauriac, Leo Tolstoy  SR