Just finished Selma's book last night. A fantastic piece of work in all respects. She has a facile way of recounting the facts that she so painstaking dug up and harmoniously set in a patchwork quilt that covers you with emotional warmth. Absorbing to no end. I couldn't have enjoyed it any more had the author been Dominique Lapierre and not Selma Carvalho. Some books are technically correct but robotic. Others are artsy but glide on flights of fancy. Selma's must be counted as neither. She has a way with words that combines the best of both. I am proud to know Selma though I have never met her, but even prouder to read the work of a Goan author of her caliber. I know she has a lot of road yet to travel and I wish her god-speed. I shall recommend the book to every Goan I know well and even to some of my non-Goan friends who will undoubtedly enjoy it. Roland
