by Margaret Jull Costa (Translator), Margaret Jull Costa (Translator), José Saramago (Author), Margaret Jull Costa (Translator)
In an unnamed country on the first day of the new year, people stop dying. Amid the general public, there is great celebration: flags are hung out on balconies and people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity - eternal life. Death is on strike. Soon, though, the residents begin to suffer. For several months undertakers face bankruptcy, the church is forced to reinvent its doctrine, and local 'maphia' smuggle those on the brink of death over the border where they can expire naturally. Death does return eventually, but with a new, courteous approach - delivering violet warning letters to her victims. But what can death do when a letter is unexpectedly returned?
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 05 Feb 2009
ISBN 10: 0099502488
ISBN 13: 9780099502487
Book Overview: 'Death at Intervals is a delight: witty, clever, humane, light in tone, profoundly serious in matter' - Scotsman