Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

This lovely novel is set in Estoril, Portugal, and particularly in a grand hotel located in Estoril, during WWII. As a neutral country, many different kinds of people fled to Portugal and both sides operated intelligence agents from Portugal. In a very entertaining way, the novel tells the stories of a number of guests of the hotel. We meet a precocious Jewish boy whose parents have sent him to Portugal promising (impossibly) that they will join him. We are entranced by a high living, playboy double agent who manages to work for and (generally) satisfy both the English and the Germans. We meet a number of Yugoslavians, including the real King Carol (abdicated and trying to figure out his next steps) and a famous poet. We watch as a Russian chess master plays chess with the precocious boy. The hotel employees are characters as well, including the hotel manager, the doorman and one of the cooks. Of course the local chief of security plays a part as does the censoring of the press. Although the subject matter could have been presented in a heavy, tragic form, it was not. To the contrary, the reader experiences the day to day pleasures and tribulations of the characters, who were portrayed in a very human, fallible way. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.