They Went to Portugal

From the author of the beloved novel The Towers of Trebizond, a book about Portugal that is part travelogue, part history and wholly personal. Rose Macaulay first travelled to Lisbon in March 1943 to escape the misery of London following the death of her lover and loss of her bombed flat. Turning to letters, diaries and travelogues, she brought together the reactions of some of the many Britons who had travelled to Portugal over the centuries, looking to understand why they journeyed there. Henry Fielding sailed to Portugal with his household in search of a cure for dropsy, jaundice and asthma. The rather more alluring promise of orange-scented and wine-soaked afternoons was what drew fellow novelist William Beckford to its shores. Byron meanwhile was sent into a black rage and wrote vehemently of the country in his poetry. Rich in detail, ambitious in scope, They Went to Portugal rambles down the centuries, bringing us the voices and experiences of a fascinating cast of characters. From pirate crusaders to ambassadors, from clergymen of all denominations to the port-wine trading pioneers, all are animated by lay's humour and astute eye.

Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) was born at Rugby where her father was an assistant master, but much of her childhood was spent in Varazze, near Genoa. She read History at Somerville, Oxford. Her writing career spanned fifty years, beginning in 1906 with the publication of her novel Abbots Verney. When her sixth novel, The Lee Shore (1912), won a prize of £600, she moved to London and plunged happily into literary life. A member of the Bloomsbury group, elected fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she was made a Dame for her services to literature in 1958, a few months before she died. Her most successful novel was the James Tait Black Memorial Prize-winning The Towers of Trebizond (1956).