Lord by João Gilberto Noll

As Lord begins, a Brazilian author is arriving at London's Heathrow airport for reasons he doesn't fully understand. Only aware that he has been invited to take part in a mysterious mission, the Brazilian becomes torn between returning home and continuing boldly forward, he becomes absorbed by fears: What if the Englishman who invited him has ill intentions? Maybe he won't show up? Or maybe he'll leave the Brazilian lost and adrift in London, with no money or place to stay? Ever more confused and enmeshed in a reality of his own making, the Brazilian wanders more and more through London's immigrant Hackney neighborhood, losing his memory, adopting strange behaviors, experiencing surreal sexual encounters, and developing a powerful fear of ever seeing himself reflected in a mirror.

A novel about the unsettling space between identities, and a disturbing portrait of fugue from the inside out, Lord constructs an altogether original story out of the ways we search for new versions of ourselves. With jaw-dropping scenes and sensual, at times grotesque images, renowned Brazilian author João Gilberto Noll grants us stunning new visions of our own personalities and the profound transformations that overtake us throughout life.

'Noll is a master of prose, one of Brazil's true literary icons.' Literary Hub

'[A] manic treatise on travel and transformation... for a novel guided by delirium, Lord is remarkably suspenseful and assured.' New York Times

Paperback / 164 pages