Black Waltz

Jealousy - overpowering, beyond the reach of reason, Othello-like - is the focus of this latest work by one of Brazil's most acclaimed writers. But unlike Shakespeare's tragic Moor, for the protagonist of Patricia Melo's provocative novel Iago is invisible, inside him, a haunting voice gnawing at his trust, his love, and ultimately his sanity.

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The successful and renowned conductor of a major symphony orchestra in Sao Paulo, he is married to a beautiful and talented violinist, close to thirty years his junior. But his happiness is undermined by two fears: that he will never wholly share her life because, unlike her, he is not Jewish; and that she is unfaithful to him. Black Waltz opens a fascinating and harrowing window into a mind bordering on paranoia and psychosis. In it the reader accompanies dark passions that presage the inexorable sundering of a relationship and lead inescapably to its unforgettable climax.