Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria-thus begins Coelho's
latest novel, a book that cannot decide whether it wants to be fairy tale or
saga of sexual discovery, so ends up satisfying the demands of neither. In his
dedication, bestselling Brazilian novelist Coelho \(The Alchemist) tells readers
that his book will deal with issues that are harsh, difficult, shocking, but
neither his tame forays into S&M nor his rather technical observations about
female anatomy and the sad but hardly new fact that many women are dissatisfied
with their sex lives will do much to shock American readers. In Maria, however,
the author has created a strong, sensual young woman who grabs our sympathy from
the first, as she suffers unrequited love as a child, learns a bit about sex as
a teenager and, at 19, makes the ill-advised decision to leave Rio on a Swedish
stranger's promise of fame and fortune. Maria's trials and triumphs-she goes
from restaurant dancer to high-class prostitute-would make for an entertaining
if rather prosaic novel, but Coelho, unfortunately, does not leave it there.
Instead, he embarks on a philosophical exploration of sexual love, using Maria's
increasingly ponderous and pseudo-philosophical diary entries as a means for
expounding on the nature of sexual desire, passion and love. At the end, the
story boils down to a rather predictable romance tarted up with a few sexy
trappings.