A novel of a friendship group set in MASSACHUSETTS
Feel good novel set in PORTO
1st October 2026
The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin, feel good novel set in PORTO.
Viviane is newly arrived in Porto with her fretful mother. Viviane is what you might call in Portuguese a true “rato de bibliotica“, in other words a bookworm, she is a copyeditor and according to her mother, she is good at seeing patterns. As the novel opens she is in the middle of a ten-book-series featuring Detective Amber Quill, her go-to books when she is need of a bit of soothing.
Her mother does her best to shoo her out of the house and find real friends with whom she can socialise. So Viviane meekly agrees to pop to a café (the Pastelaria História in the Ribeira District, as it happens) and with her book in hand, settles down a discreet corner. But she has hardly got into her reading stride when a total stranger called Tiago accosts her in a very friendly way, and despite overt hints, he continues his loquacious ways. He is welcome to join her, but she insists he has to take on board that she loves to read a good whodunnit in total silence.
The two of them reading (in silence, or not) proves to be quite a lure and soon Lucinda, an older woman, descends on them to join what, to her eyes, is evidently a book club. Soon further members join, all of whom have a love of reading, and Viviane finds herself way out of her comfort zone, she loves silence, most of the others clearly do not. Sitting back she observes certain things about the ‘members’ and realises that mysteries and backstories to be explored are not far from her door. Then, one of the group goes missing and the pressure is on to initiate a real life investigation.
Porto is very nicely depicted and there are plenty of sweet treats to indulge cravings from the odd Pastel de Nata to coxinhas, avoiding at all costs anything that has even a hint of almond (difficult in Portugal) because Tiago is mortally allergic.
A feel good story that transports the reader to Porto.
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