Saudade

by Katherine Vaz

Saudade. An inventive and poetic novel about a young woman's search for self-expression in a world without sound. Clara is born without the capacity to hear in the exotic Azores, where her people are haunted by the legends, literature, and mystery of these Portuguese islands. In her youth she moves to northern California, where her heritage continues to color her newfound landscape. Drawing upon her own spiritual resources, she creates her own languages in unusual, universal forms, her heightened senses reaching out to feel life at its most sensual, raw, and primal.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?