From acclaimed author Paulo Coelho Eleven Minutes tells the story of a young Brazilian girl named Maria. Like all young girls at age 11, she falls in love for the first time, and regrets missing the chance to proclaim that love to the boy that eventually moves away never to come back. From then on, she declares to never let that opportunity pass her by. Disillusioned by love, she becomes hardened and never fully opens her heart to anyone.
On a long awaited vacation to Rio de Janeiro, she meets a man, whom promises her the life she has always wanted. A life full of glamour, money and the chance to travel; she gladly accepts and is taken away to Switzerland. She arrives with a head full of expectations and is quickly disappointed by the reality of the situation. Determined and acutely aware on how to handle her given situation, she keeps a therapeutic journal, on which she keeps her dreams, realizations, expectations and observations. Taking advantage of her position she searches the library, learns French and makes a portfolio for the modeling career she was determined to achieve. On a day like any other day, she receives a call from a supposed modeling scout, whom asks Maria to meet him and at that meeting she discovers his secret intentions. But for a thousand Francs, she chooses a path that makes Eleven Minutes emergeinto a classy seductive story.
Maria then embarks into a whirlwind of experiences that are intricately and beautifully woven, eventually make her soul a recluse. She goes from a restaurant dancer to a high class prostitute. In her quests, she endures pain and suffering in all degrees. Regains her spiritual virginity, falls in love and allows her heart to feel love again. In the end, Maria is compensated by a man (Ralf Hart) whom gives his love, and asks nothing in return.
Here's a book excerpt (book extract) from the novel Eleven Minutes, http://browseinside.harpercollins.ca/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060589288
A Happy Ending and Exquisite Prose
Love never asks for permission, nor does it appear when we feel we most need it. Love is a universal entity that holds no shape and strikes down and stays clenched to the heart. In this novel Eleven Minutes, the reader is immediately transported into Maria’s soul; boarding the carousel of her life and the incidents that lead up to the opening of her long lost soul. The inner light spoken about in the story indicates the light that emerges from the soul. It has no physical body and is only apparent to others whom extract the same light. Love has no meaning, Love just is…
Book Stats
Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho
Hardback 273 pages
Harper Collins Publishers 2006
ISBN# 0060589272
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