Literary Fiction — The Book Roads

The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo

Germano Almeida

Set on the Cape Verdean island of São Vicente, this witty and insightful novel begins with the death of Senhor Napumoceno da Silva Araújo, a respected businessman whose carefully constructed public image is about to unravel. Born into poverty, Napumoceno has built a successful import-export company and become a prominent figure in the community. To outsiders, he appears disciplined, respectable, and almost obsessively proper. However, when his lengthy last will and testament is read aloud, it reveals a very different man. Through a combination of memoir, confession, and unexpected revelations, Napumoceno exposes secret relationships, questionable business dealings, and the existence of a daughter nobody knew about. His revelations also disrupt the inheritance plans of his nephew, who assumes he is the rightful heir. With humour and gentle irony, Germano Almeida explores the gap between public reputation and private reality. The novel also examines social ambition, hypocrisy, family, and the legacies of colonial society in Cape Verde. Beneath its comic surface lies a thoughtful portrait of a man struggling to reconcile the person he wanted to be with the life he actually lived.

Cabo Verde 2004