The White Angel
The life of José Branco changed the day he walked into that unknown village lost somewhere in the heart of Africa, and witnessed a terrible event.
José was a doctor who, having decided to live in Mozambique in the 1960s, was confronted with unbelievable health problems amongst the African population. Committed to perform his duties to the best of his abilities, he came up with a revolutionary idea to take health where there was none: the Flying Doctors’ Service.
The life of José Branco changed the day he walked into that unknown village lost somewhere in the heart of Africa, and witnessed a terrible event.
José was a doctor who, having decided to live in Mozambique in the 1960s, was confronted with unbelievable health problems amongst the African population. Committed to perform his duties to the best of his abilities, he came up with a revolutionary idea to take health where there was none: the Flying Doctors’ Service.
Travelling daily in his little airplane, José crossed a vast territory to bring help to the remotest regions of the Portuguese colony in Eastern Africa. His work drew attention and soon the doctor who came from the sky dressed in white became a legend in the bush.
They called him o anjo branco. The white angel.
But war broke out in Mozambique and, one day, while performing another of his sanitary missions in the bush, he came across the darkest Portuguese secret in Africa.
Based on real events, and showcasing a cast worthy of a Hollywood major production, The White Angel establishes itself as the mightiest novel on the Portuguese Colonial War ever written – and, above all, a remarkable, profound testimony on the fading days of the Portuguese empire in Africa.
“The White Angel is José Rodrigues dos Santos’ most intimate and emotional novel. (…) You can find in these pages the author’s literary soul, his ability to leave us on the razor’s edge until the very last paragraph and his master hand at dealing with the facts of history.”
“José Rodrigues dos Santos, proving once more his tremendous ability to renew himself, has surprised us again. His new novel is written in an intimate way, showing the author’s heart in a manner that will excite and emotionally touch his many readers. This is a book that all Portuguese readers will feel very close to.”
“A story written with utmost clarity and fluency. (…) From now on, this novel is at the forefront of literature about the war in Portuguese Africa.”
"A beautiful, profound and intelligent novel (...) Its thoughts on life and death, and good and evil, are of great richness and deepness. This is a dense and sometimes cruel book, but also witty (...) José Rodrigues dos Santos shows in this work the skills of a great novelist (...) His writing style is fluid and impressive (...) This is a major display of talent and honesty."
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October 13, 2010 Interview The White AngelInterview The White Angel for Visão Portugal, October 2010 How much did you want to tell your dad’s story?JRS: Very much. A cousin of mine once asked me: “why don’t...
